136 years after its inauguration: what is the history of the Statue of Liberty

On October 28, 1886, it was inaugurated in USA which would eventually become one of the most famous monuments in the world.

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The enormous structure of 93 meters high and weighing 225 tons became at that time the tallest metal statue on the planet.

Its official name was that of the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World, although today it is better known as the Statue of Liberty.

But why was it built and what curiosities does its history contain?

A CONVENIENT GIFT

By the end of the 19th century, the United States was in the midst of reconstruction after the civil war that took place between 1861 and 1865.

But, at the same time, preparations were being made to celebrate the first centenary of its independence, which occurred in 1776.

In this context, the French politician Eduardo Laboulaye proposed that his country send a gift to the North American nation as a reminder of the friendship between the two and the joint fight they sustained against the British crown in the war of independence.

Without imagining the series of obstacles that would be found along the way.

The sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, a friend of Laboulaye, was hired to design a structure to represent this Gallic message. However, the war with Prussia and the German Empire’s conquest of Alsace, the region Bartholdi came from, delayed the project.

The conflict with the Germans also aroused an anti-American feeling among the French, due to the closeness between the Americans and the Germans.

On the other hand, the Third Republic was in danger in a France that had not yet achieved political stability since the revolution.

In the midst of all these difficulties, however, Laboulaye and Bartholdi decided to go ahead with their gift. Moreover, they considered that carrying it out could send a great message to the population and help maintain the republic.

In 1871 Bartholdi and then US President Ulysses S. Grant met in New York. In said meeting, the French politician would have informed the president that he had already chosen the perfect place to erect his gift: Bedloe’s Island, a small uninhabited piece of land located in the New York bay.

French politician Eduardo Laboulaye proposed that his country send a monument as a gift to the United States for its first centenary of independence. (Frank Ricoletta / AFP /)

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STATUE

The statue is known to represent Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom and equivalent to the Greek deity Eleutheria.

However, to this day it remains a mystery what Bartholdi’s inspiration was for designing the face of the monument. One of the best accepted theories is that the artist would have been inspired by his own mother, something that was not ruled out or confirmed until his death.

On the other hand, it is known that different elements that the statue carries were inspired by a design made by Bartholdi himself years ago for a project commissioned in Egypt.

One of the most representative elements of the statue, the diadem with seven solar rays, would have been inspired by the work of the Spanish sculptor Ponciano Ponzano. These rays would also represent the seven seas.

The external part of the statue is covered with 300 copper panels, while the interior design was entrusted to the French Gustave Eiffel, who years later would unveil the famous tower in Paris that bears his surname.

French engineer Gustave Eiffel was commissioned to design the “skeleton” of the Statue of Liberty. (AFP Agency/)

Beyond the political problems that we reviewed a few lines ago, the construction of the statue faced an enormous economic and logistical challenge.

It was not until 1880 that France managed to raise, thanks to a series of events and campaigns, the million francs necessary for the construction.

At the same time, exhibitions, auctions and boxing matches were held in the United States to finance the construction of the base on which the monument would stand.

It is curious to know, for example, that for the centenary in which it was expected to have the statue, an arm had barely been finished, the same one that was exhibited in Philadelphia. Two years later, in 1878, the head was completed, revealed during an exhibition on the Champ de Mars.

SOME CURIOSITIES

Before reaching its current location, the statue was erected in Paris and presented to the American ambassador to France on July 4, 1884.

A year later, it began dismantling it to arrange for its transfer to the United States. 214 boxes were necessary to move the 300 pieces in which the monument had been dismantled.

The statue then began a journey that, as has been recurrent throughout this story, was not without its difficulties. After being sent by train from Paris to Rouen and then transferred by ship across the Seine to the port of Le Havre, the statue was ready to head to the United States.

The monument, however, was on the verge of disappearing due to a storm that threatened to sink the ship in which the pieces were transferred.

Fortunately, the statue arrived safely, a week late, in New York on June 17, 1886. Reassembly work began immediately and was completed on October 28, 1887.

The torch he currently holds is not the original, it was replaced in 1986 by a replica that included gold leaf to prevent deterioration. Although it is already known, it should be remembered that the original color of the statue was reddish brown, but meteorological factors took it to its current characteristic color in just two decades.

In 1986 the original torch was replaced with an exact replica with gold foil to prevent further weather damage. (Paul Demaria / AFP /)

During its first years, between 1886 and 1906, the Statue of Liberty was used as a lighthouse, but the low lighting power it had made it stop fulfilling that function over time.

In the book that he holds in his left arm you can read the inscription “JULY IV MDCCLXXVI” (July 4, 1776), the date of the Independence of the United States in Roman numerals.

Source: Elcomercio