Friday, July 08, 2005

In Paris too, the Statue of Liberty enlightens the city


You may already know that the statue of Liberty that you can see in New York has been given to the Americans by the French as a gift. Sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi (and Gustave Eiffel - yes, the one of the tower! - for the metal structure) started its construction in 1875, completed it in 1884 and shipped it to the States (in 350 pieces!) in 1885.
On July 4, 1889 the American community in Paris offered the French people a bronze replica of the Statue (1/4 scale, about 35 feet high) that you still can see on the Ile des Cygnes (swans island) in the Seine River - and in this photo!
Publié par Eric

18 comments:

  1. Eric,
    I remember seeing this when my sister Pam and I came to France in the 70's. I was living in Frankfurt at the time and she came to visit. We took the bus trip to Paris and did the typical tourist things including the boat trip on the Seine. It was so different to see a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty. Thanks for bringing back the memory.
    Deb

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  2. I didn't know that Paris had a Statue of Liberty. I wonder how many cities have some type of replica of the statue. I was just in Kenosha, Wisconsin and they have a small replica.

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  3. The musée Bartholdi in Colmar is very interesting - you can see Bartholi's early projects for the Statue of Liberty, the ones he rejected.

    I bought in Paris, last summer, a black and white postcard with a very nice close up of the Statue of Liberty replica, with the Eiffel tower in the background. A cool photograph, indeed.

    And I'll take this opportunity to thank you for this wonderful site, which I discovered only a few days ago. I look forward to visiting it daily.

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  4. You have an excellent blog! I have extended family in the Paris area I never met except recently via e-mail. Your blog adds to my recent motivation to visit Paris.

    I am originally from the New York area. Like most natives, I felt it beneath me to visit the Statue. That was for the tourists, or at least those tourists not otherwise spending their time and money buying the Brooklyn Bridge from some street vendor... ;-)

    I now live in Ohio. A few years back, I took my girlfriend on her first visit to New York, where she insisted on visiting the Statue. Big man that I am, I quickly agreed. Extraordinarily inspiring!

    There is a rather famous poem by Emma Lazarus associated with the Statue, which contains the classic line: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" She wrote the poem as part of a drive to collect donations for constructing the pedestal on which Statue now stands.

    One minor note -- I think you made a typographical error. Your timeline has the Statue shipped 19 years before it was completed. ("...completed it in 1884 and shipped it to the States (in 350 pieces!) in 1865...")

    Thank you again for a wonderful blog!

    -- phil

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  5. You can see one of the smallest versions of the Statue of Liberty. http://picaday.blogspirit.com/archive/2005/07/02/l-envol-pour-la-liberte.html.
    Même de loin, elle est impressionnante. Un effet que ne produit pas le modèle réduit français, même de près.

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  6. Thank you very much everybody for your nice comments.

    > Deb. Believe me the Statue has not changed a bit since the 70's. Exactly like you, I am sure...

    > Rock. How about starting a StatueOfLibertyThroughoutTheWorld Blog ?!

    > Elisabeth. "And I'll take this opportunity to thank you for this wonderful site, which I discovered only a few days ago. I look forward to visiting it daily."
    You made my day! Come back anytime!!

    > Phil. Thanks for this long comment (with real poetry chunks in it, I am impressed!!) I understand perfectly when you say you did not visit the Statue of Liberty while you were living in NY. I must confess I visited the Eiffel Tower only twice and only because I had friends visiting!! As for the TYPO, I really feel like an idiot. Of course you're right. In fact they shipped it one year after its completion, in 1885 and not 65! Thank you.

    > And Sistereden. Merci pour le lien vers "la vraie" !

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  7. Il existe également une statue de la Liberté au Jardin du Luxembourg, que j'ai découverte ce matin, au cours d'une promenade dans le quartier.

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  8. ps I'm having a little trouble sending comments so if I do it twice please excuse me and I apologize.

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