The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The statue, designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor and dedicated on October 28, 1886, was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence,
July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of
freedom and of the United States: a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad.
Bartholdi was inspired by French law professor and politician Édouard René de Laboulaye,
who is said to have commented in 1865 that any monument raised to
American independence would properly be a joint project of the French
and American peoples. He may have been minded to honor the Union victory
in the American Civil War and the end of slavery. Due to the troubled political situation in France,
work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870s. In 1875,
Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the Americans
provide the site and build the pedestal. Bartholdi completed the head
and the torch-bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and
these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions.
The torch-bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan
from 1876 to 1882. Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the
Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened due to lack
of funds. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World
started a drive for donations to complete the project that attracted
more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar.
The statue was constructed in France, shipped overseas in crates, and
assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's
Island. The statue's completion was marked by New York's first ticker-tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland.
The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War; since 1933 it has been maintained by the National Park Service.
The statue was closed for renovation for much of 1938. In the early
1980s, it was found to have deteriorated to such an extent that a major
restoration was required. While the statue was closed from 1984 to 1986,
the torch and a large part of the internal structure were replaced.
After the September 11 attacks
in 2001, it was closed for reasons of safety and security; the pedestal
reopened in 2004 and the statue in 2009, with limits on the number of
visitors allowed to ascend to the crown. The statue, including the
pedestal and base, was closed for a year until October 28, 2012, so that
a secondary staircase and other safety features could be installed;
Liberty Island remained open. However, one day after the reopening,
Liberty Island closed due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy in New York;
the statue and island opened again on July 4, 2013. Public access to
the balcony surrounding the torch has been barred for safety reasons
since 1916.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1984
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Thank you, Mia !
Sent on: February 17, 2015
Received on: February 23, 2015
1 comment:
Stamps are beautiful!
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