Staute of Liberty by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi

Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi (2 August 1834 – 4 October 1904) was a French sculptor widely known for designing and shaping the Statue of Liberty and works of Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington.  The Statue of Liberty, Liberty Enlightening the World, was completed/dedicated at Liberty Island, New York Harbor in 1886.  It is made of hammered sheet copper that is attached to an iron skeleton.  It stands 151 feet tall with a granite pedestal.  As an installation with artistic expression, the Statute of Liberty is Bartholdi attempt to create a physical embodiment of liberty.  Liberty is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as meaning "the quality or state of being free; the power to do as one pleases; freedom from arbitrary control; the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges; and the power of choice".

Bartholdi is able to express the spirit of liberty in several ways.  First, the figure is posed as stepping forward with a set of broken shackles around both feet.  This offers a strong visual clue that the figure is opposing slavery and political oppression.  Secondly, the statue is holding a torch with rays of light from her crown while holding a tablet with the date of Declaration of Independence. One widely known quotation in the Declaration of Independence is: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Lastly, the figure is female.  During the 1800s,  the people of France overthrew the last Bourbon monarch, Charles X, and Louis-Phillipe I Duke of Orleans.  The event is known as the French Revolution of 1830, the July Revolution which inspired Eugene Delacroix, a French painter, to create Liberty Leading the People circa 1830.  The painting shows a goddess figure leading people over dead corpses while holding the French flag.   Delacroix's female figure remains as a symbol of French Revolution and a strong icon of freedom in general as shown further thru Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty.

 

 

 

Sources:

 

Durante, Dianne L. (2012-04-20). The Statue of Liberty: Timeless Art, Political Hot Topic (Forgotten Delights:New York Sculpture) (Kindle Location 91). www.ForgottenDelights.com. Kindle Edition.