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                  Statue of Liberty's History II 

                                        
                                                           
Statue of Liberty Facts: 

                                    Statue of Liberty Cruise              Statue of Liberty Tours

After Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi prefabricated the figure in Paris by molding sheets of cooper over a stainless-steel framework, it was shipped to the United States in 241 crates in 1885.  Some of the money to erect the statue was contributed by American school children.  

The sculptor intended his work to be an immense and impressive symbol of human liberty.  It was certainly that for millions of immigrants who came to America in the19th century seeking freedom and fulfillment of their dreams.  It has continued to inspire people across the world, as in 1989 when the Chinese students at Tiananmen Square made a model of the Statue of Liberty to symbolize their revolution.  For more information (and images) about the Statue of Liberty, click here.

The idea for the Statue of Liberty germinated in 1865 when the 31 year old Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi the Sculptor [who had trained as a painter with Ary [Ari] Scheffer], and several of his friends, conceived of a monument to the Franco-American alliance of 1778 that brought General Lafayette and his French army to America to fight with Washington in our American Revolution. 

                          What French historian proposed the Statue of Liberty?

In 1870, Bartholdi undertook the design of the statue on his own initiative.  The French historian, Edouard de Laboulaye suggested the Statue of Liberty [1811-83], in 1865.  He began the fund raising with his proposal for the immense statue.  The construction funds were raised from the French people.    

  Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi Because of the statue's towering size and weight, the design engineers Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel designed infrastructure of four gigantic steel supports and supervised their
assembly.
  Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel
    Frederic-Auguste
       Bartholdi
    Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel


In 1875, fabrication of the copper and steel Statue of Liberty Construction in Paris was begun in Paris France.  Ten years later, in 1885, the 46 meters [151 feet 1 inch] high statue was completed.  It weighed 225 tons upon completion.  This same year, the completed statue was disassembled and shipped to New York.  1885 was also the year that the famed

The Statue Of Liberty being assembled in Paris - how the statue of liberty built
      The Statue of Liberty being assembled in Paris
 

American architect Richard Morris Hunt designed
the statue's it being Erected on Bedloe's Island, New York Harbor, within the walls of Fort Wood.

The completed statue and pedestal was Dedicated by President Grover Cleveland on October 28, 1886. 
The torch was modified for electricity in 1916

The statue was repaired and restored in the mid 1980s by a combined French and American work force for the centennial celebration held in July, 1986.








 


Before Bartholdi and Eiffel built the full scale Statue of Liberty, they built several scale models for construction that were smaller.  The smaller of the two models can be found today in the east side of the Jardin de Luxembourg, in a clump of trees not far from the garden's entrance from rue de Medicis, in Paris. 

Several bridges west of the Tour Eiffel, just west of the Pont de Grenelle, on its own island, Swan Island [Allée des Cygnes] in the Seine River, is the larger model which is shown to the right.

  Statue Of Liberty at Swan Island - how many meters tall is the statue of liberty
                                    

                                  Biography of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was born in Colmar, Alsace, France on August 2, 1834. He was the son of Jean-Charles Bartholdi, a French government employee, and Augusta-Charlotte [né Beyser].  With his parents, he remained in the house of his birth, at 30, rue des Marchands, until the death of his father.

Following his father's death, his mother moved the family to Paris where her young son studied art and Parisian monuments.  From 1843 to 1851 he attended the lycée Louis-le-Grand and frequented the studio of the painter Ary Scheffer.  During scholastic vacations, he would return to Colmar to study with Rossbach.  In 1852, Bartholdi opened his own studio in Paris.

For 9 months, during the year 1855-1856, the young Bartholdi, who was now 21 years old, went traveled to the Near East with some of his friends.  Among other locations, they visited both Yemen and Egypt.  It was there, during this voyage, that he discovered the great Nile civilization where only the great monuments had survived to recount its history.  Returning to France, he brought with him a dedication to sculpturing.


The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 resulted in the ceding of his native Alsace, together with Lorraine,  to Prussia.  The removal of his cherished Alsace from France changed the successful artist profoundly.  His heart was wounded by this loss, and through discussions with his friend Edouard de Laboulaye expressed his desire to 'fight for liberty'.  He then decided to go to the United States to further this ambition. 

On arriving in New York harbor, Bartholdi saw Bedloe Island as the place to place an enormous statue to liberty which he quickly undertook to publicize.  In 1872, he created a statue of La Fayette for the French community of New York.  In December, 1876, he married Jeanne-Emilie Baheux in Newport.

In 1875 he began construction  of his statue 'Liberty Lighting the World' which would be installe
d on Bedloe Island.  The statue was then dismantled and shipped to New York, arriving on June 19, 1885.  It then took four months to rebuild the statue.  President Grover Cleveland dedicated the completed statue and pedestal on October 28, 1886.

In addition to his statue of La Fayette, Bartholdi created several other sculptural monuments in America from his numerous trips here during the workings of the Liberty project.  For more information on Bartholdi's life and his accomplishments, click here.

Later in 1885, a replica of the Statue of Liberty was placed on the île des Cygnes in Paris.  During the next few years, copies of this work were installed in Hanoi and at Bordeaux, France.

Bartholdi died as the result of an illness in Paris on October 4, 1904, at 70 years of age.  His tomb can be found on the west side of the Cimetière du Montparnasse.

Bartholdi's immortal Statue of Liberty was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1984. 

On July 4, 2004, the world's largest replica of the Statue of Liberty was unveiled at Colmar, France.  It was made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Bartholdi.  The statue stands 12 meters high.

 

                                                                          Pages I, II, III, IV
 
 

 
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