L'Éléphant de Barbizon

The rock formation known as l'Éléphant is one of the most recognisable sandstone outcrops in the forest near Barbizon — its silhouette legible enough to have given it a name, worn smooth by the same geological forces that shaped the boulders the Barbizon painters spent decades drawing. It sits on the Boucle de l'Éléphant loop of the Circuit des Peintres, a short forest circuit that also passes the Rousseau-Millet medallion. The form that looks like an elephant depends on the angle; from others, it disappears entirely back into the rock.