To understand the origins of the myth of the Bastille and the conditions of the construction of this memory requires us to return to the crucial moment that constitutes the « aftermath’ » of its fall, in particular to the role played by the demolition contractor of the prison, Pierre-François Palloy, and to the motivations of his actions. The circumstances of his public interventions and positioning during festivals, ceremonies, and speeches, as well as by the increase of the gift of divers objects, constitutes a new way of exercising power on the public stage and of imposing a discourse and a memory.