Who was the Statue of Liberty modeled after?

So who was the Statue of Liberty modeled after? Quite likely, a mixture of all of these: Augusta Charlotte Bartholdi, the Roman goddess Libertas, a peasant, and that extra inspiration in the artist's own mind.



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1. The original model may have been an Egyptian woman. Many historians say that the Statue of Liberty was modeled after Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom. However, sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi was first inspired by the colossal figures guarding Nubian tombs.

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So who was the Statue of Liberty modeled after? Quite likely, a mixture of all of these: Augusta Charlotte Bartholdi, the Roman goddess Libertas, a peasant, and that extra inspiration in the artist's own mind.

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A portrait of Auguste Bartholdi. The sculptor behind the Statue of Liberty, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was born in 1834 in Colmar, France in the Alsace region on the border of Germany.

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An illustration of the presentation of the Statue to the U.S. Minister Levi Parsons Morton in Paris on July 4, 1881. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French people commemorating the alliance of France and the United States during the American Revolution.

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The French paid for the statue and its transportation, the Americans for the pedestal and installation. In 1875, Bartholdi completed the torch-bearing arm first and exhibited it at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. He exhibited the head at the World's Fair in Paris in 1878.

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Although France paid for the statue, the US had to pay for the pedestal. The construction of the Statue of Liberty was a joint project between France and the United States.

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Egypt rejected the Statue of Liberty because according to the Khedive it was too costly. The original plan was to present the colossal neoclassical sculpture to Egypt to stand at the entryway to the Suez Canal as a beacon of light to Asia.

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25 Facts to Celebrate the Statue of Liberty
  • The statue's full name is Liberty Enlightening the World.
  • It was a gift from France given to America in 1886.
  • The robed female figure represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom.
  • The statue measures 93 meters and weighs 204 metric tons.


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1. The statue represents a Roman Goddess. The statue's name derives from the Goddess it represents; Libertas, a Roman deity personifying freedom. Libertas appears on Roman coins from the period of Julius Caesar's assassination, supporting the Republic.

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But did you know she wasn't always that color? When France gifted Lady Liberty to the U.S., she was a 305-foot statue with reddish-brown copper skin. Her color change is thanks to about 30 years' worth of chemistry in the air of New York City harbor.

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There are two genuine statues and several lesser versions of the Statue of Liberty. The original and most famous is the one located on Liberty Island, a gift from the French to America. The second is located in Paris, France, and was a reciprocal gift from the United States in 1889.

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Île aux Cygnes, an artificial island on the Seine River in Paris 15, hosts the first Statue of Liberty in Paris. This quarter-size statue was given by the American community in Paris to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution.

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The Statue was originally designed for the Suez Canal in Egypt. Bartholdi did not craft the basic design of Liberty specifically for America. As a young man, he had visited Egypt and was enchanted by the project underway to dig a channel between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

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Her crown has seven points that represent rays of light and also the seven seas and continents; the original name for the statue is “Liberty Enlightening the World.” There are broken chains, or shackles, at her feet that also symbolize her freedom.

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The Statue of Liberty stands in Upper New York Bay, a universal symbol of freedom. Originally conceived as an emblem of the friendship between the people of France and the U.S. and a sign of their mutual desire for liberty, it was also meant to celebrate the abolition of slavery following the U.S. Civil War.

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On July 4, 1884 France presented the United States with an incredible birthday gift: the Statue of Liberty! Without its pedestal it's as tall as a 15-story building. She represents the United States. But the world-famous Statue of Liberty standing in New York Harbor was built in France.

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The truss in statue's right shoulder had seriously weakened and was in danger of collapse. And almost half of the iron armature that supports the copper skin had corroded, in part because the statue had become, in effect, a giant battery.

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The journey for the “little sister” has just begun: Following the footsteps of the original statue, it will board a ship at the port city of Le Havre on June 19 and reach New York on July 1. Its final destination will be Washington, DC, where it will be on display for 10 years at the French ambassador's residence.

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The Eiffel Tower was a gift from the U.S. During the American Revolution, France provided support to the United States. The Statue of Liberty was gifted to commemorate this alliance. However, the Eiffel Tower wasn't a reciprocal gift, even though the two monuments were created in a similar time period.

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It's made of copper, which has oxidised naturally to form a green patina coating which actually protects the copper underneath. It took about 20 years for the Statue of Liberty to change from copper coloured to green!

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