Modern · Smithsonian American Art Museum · saam_XX76
Liberty
Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, ca. 1884
Smithsonian American Art Museum · Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Capitol · CC0 · Public domain
- Artist
- Frederic Auguste Bartholdi
- Date
- ca. 1884
- Medium
- painted terra cotta and tin
- Dimensions
- 46 x 12 x 11 in. (116.8 x 30.5 x 28.0 cm)
- Era
- Modern
Why it matters
Rising from a small island in New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France in 1886 in honor of the friendship forged between two allies during the American Revolution. Liberty stands on a broken chain to symbolize victory over tyranny, a narrative that omits the millions of enslaved Africans forcibly brought to this land in the decades before and after the Revolution. Bartholdi delivered this small-scale model to the federal Capitol, where it was on view from 1884 until 1887. The monumental version was often characterized as a beacon of hope for millions of immigrants who sailed past it on the way to Ellis Island, where the U.S. government documented their arrival. Emma Lazarus's poem inscribed on the base proclaims America's welcome to all seeking a better life: