U.S. AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE  

ON THE STATUE OF LIBERTY'S HISTORY

 

The general appearance of the Statue of Liberty’s head approximates the Roman Sun-god Apollo or the Greek Sun-god Helios as preserved on an ancient marble tablet (today in the Archaeological Museum of Corinth, Corinth, Greece) - Apollo was represented as a solar deity, dressed in a similar robe and having on its head a "radiate crown" with the seven spiked rays of the Helios-Apollo's sun rays, like the Statue's nimbus or halo. The ancient Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was a statue of Helios with a radiate crown. The Colossus is referred to in the 1883 sonnet The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus. Lazarus's poem was later engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty in 1903.

The statue, also known affectionately as "Lady Liberty", has become a symbol of freedom and democracy. She welcomed arriving immigrants, who could see the statue as they arrived in the United States. There is a version of the statue in France given by the United States in return.

The classical appearance (Roman stola, sandals, facial expression) derives from Libertas, ancient Rome's goddess of freedom from slavery, oppression, and tyranny. Her raised right foot is on the move. This symbol of Liberty and

 

Diorama of the manufacture of Liberty's copper head in the ateliers of Gaget, Gauthier and Cie.

The idea of giving a colossal representation of republican virtues to a "sister" republic across the sea served as a focus for the republican cause against other politicians. The first "Statue of Liberty", today located in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris. The first model, on a small scale, was built in 1870. This first statue is now in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. A second model, also on a small scale, was further brought to Maceió, a city in the Northeast of Brazil. This model is in front of Maceió's first city hall, built in 1869, which is now a museum. While on a visit to Egypt that was to shift his artistic perspective from simply grand to colossal, Bartholdi was inspired by the project of the Suez Canal which was being undertaken by Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, who later became a lifelong friend of his. He envisioned a giant lighthouse standing at the entrance to the canal and drew plans for it. It would be patterned after the Roman goddess Libertas, modified to resemble a robed Egyptian peasant, a fallaha, with light beaming out from both a headband and a torch thrust dramatically upward into the skies. Bartholdi presented his plans to the Egyptian Khedive, Isma'il Pasha, in 1867 and, with revisions, again in 1869, but the project was never commissioned because of financial issues the country was going through.

It was agreed that in a joint effort, the American people were to build the base, and the French people were responsible for the Statue and its assembly in the United States. In France, public donations, various forms of entertainment including notably performances of La liberté éclairant le monde (Liberty enlightening the world) by soon-to-be famous composer Charles Gounod at Paris Opera, and a charitable lottery were among the methods used to raise the 2,250,000 francs ($250,000). In the United States, benefit theatrical events, art exhibitions, auctions and prize fights assisted in providing needed funds.

INFORMATION BORROWED FROM THE PEOPLE'S FREE WIKIPEDIA ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE THIS SENTENCE.

 

THE PAINTING ON THE SIDES IS FROM EUGÈNE DELACROIX: CALLED "LA LIBERTÉ GUIDANT LE PEUPLE" (LIBERTY GUIDING THE PEOPLE). CLICK THIS PARAGRAPH FOR THE HISTORY OF THIS PIECE OF ART AND OTHER SIMILAR PIECES OF ARTISTIC ENDEAVORS.

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