The Statue of Liberty is one of the most famous sculptures in the world, it is rightfully recognized as the symbol of New York and the entire United States. This creation was donated to the American people by the French.
Author of the idea, sculptor and model
The idea of creating the Statue of Liberty originated in 1860 from the Frenchman Edouard René Lefebvre de Laboulaye, a scientist and lawyer. This man was a true liberal and looked at the American constitution with admiration, considering it the best example to follow. As a token of his gratitude and friendship between the countries, Edward wanted to present the Americans with a certain symbolic gift - a grandiose sculpture.
Laboulaye offered to become the author of the statue to the sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who had already become famous for the creation of several monumental creations. It is believed that Frederick took his early project, which was originally intended for Egypt, as the basis for the statue in New York. However, the sculptor himself categorically denied this and said that the Statue of Liberty was completely original.
Today, there are a lot of assumptions about who became the prototype of Freedom. Someone thinks that the sketch of the sculpture was copied from Bartholdi's mother - Charlotte. According to another version, the American Isabella Boyer became the model.
Isabella was the widowed wife of the famous entrepreneur Isaac Singer.
Creation and construction of sculpture
Fundraising for the production of the statue began in 1874. For the advertising campaign, the composer Charles Gounod wrote a special contant "Freedom". Since 1875, a team of twenty people worked on the statue. Copper sheets for the body of the statue were molded by workers by hand.
The work in the workshop continued seven days a week and took 10 hours a day.
The Statue of Liberty became a Franco-American project: the Americans erected the pedestal, and the French made the sculpture itself. In France, lotteries and entertainment events were held to raise funds, in which visitors were encouraged to make a donation. In the United States, theater performances, auctions, and exhibitions have been organized for similar purposes.
Funds for the manufacture of the pedestal were collected by August 1885, and its construction was completed in April 1886. The statue itself was fully completed in July 1884, and in June 1885 the French frigate Ysere delivered it to New York harbor. For transportation, the statue had to be disassembled: it was divided into 350 parts and the parts were packed in 214 boxes.
The installation of the statue on the pedestal lasted for four months. On October 28, 1886, the opening ceremony of the Statue of Liberty took place in a solemn atmosphere. This creation is still loved not only by Americans, but also by people from other countries. It is not uncommon for American patriots to get a tattoo depicting a statue.
