Figure 2. Side view of the Palais de la Porte Dorée, where the MNHI is hosted. Along the top side, a colossal inscription still pays tribute to French explorers and colonisers over the centuries (‘À ses fils qui ont étendu l’Empire de son génie et fait ainsi aimer son nom au-delà des mers, la France reconnaissante’/’To his children who expanded the genius of the Empire and makes its name so appreciated overseas, the grateful France’) (© Caterina Scarabicchi).