Description:
Gelatin silver print. 11 x 14 in. Tear and crease at upper right. Newly and handsomely framed using archival materials.The torch of the Statue of Liberty was exhibited in Madison Square Park, New York to raise funds for the statue's completion. The torch remained in the park from 1876 through 1882.
"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… Read More