Scott Mcculloch Statue Of Liberty

Scott McCulloch
THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

The Statue of Liberty is a neoclassical monument that stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbour. It was given as a gift from France in 1886 and has become a world famous icon. The statue is of great political significance, symbolising the ideals of the age it was constructed and reflecting the principles of the American Declaration of Independence, a constitution that modern America still has as its political compass. It is also architecturally significant because its design successfully embodied the liberal tenets of the age and has managed to retain its iconic status in the modern world.
The gift of the Statue of Liberty was the culmination of over 100 years of favourable relations and shared political ideals between the USA and France, and this relationship began before the nation of America was created. As a reaction to authoritarian British rule, 13 colonies in North America fought a revolutionary war and claimed independence in 1776. This victory was made possible by a treaty they signed with France. French troops and finance helped defeat the British and the United States of America was born (Cowie 1993). This new country created a
constitution based on ideals of liberty and equality and less than fifteen years later, France was to have its own revolution, based on the same ideals (Cowie 1993).
Within 100 years however, France was yet again under absolute rule, and yet again French republicans were looking to America for inspiration. Eduoard de Laboulaye, a famous French teacher and author, looked to America with great admiration. America had just come out of a civil war which had ended slavery. It seemed to Laboulaye that America would go to great lengths, even war with itself, to uphold the ideals of liberty for all (Roberts 2002).

Laboulaye was keen to rekindle the close relationship both countries had enjoyed in previous years. At a dinner party he hosted in 1865 he put forward the idea of building a tribute to celebrate 100 years of independence in America. He stated:
If a monument should rise in the United States, as a memorial to their independence, I think it only natural if it were built by united effort – a common work of both our nations (Roberts 2002, p. 14)

It would be another five years before France could exile Napoleon III and create another republic. When this happened plans went ahead with the construction of Liberty Enlightening the World, the name of the proposed monument. It was to represent the political ideologies of liberty and equality. In the early 1900s it was seen as a ‘beacon of hope for thousands of European immigrants, who arrived in New York Harbour’ (Aldous et al. 2003), and to many around the world today, it still does. The political significance of Lady Liberty was still apparent during the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square, where the young Chinese erected a ‘goddess of democracy’ to show their admiration for the American ideals of liberty (Cowie 1993). The purpose of the Statue of Liberty since its conception has been to promote the political ideologies of liberalism and democracy, and it continues to do so to this day.
The French tribute to America and its political ideals had to symbolise the shared beliefs of both countries so the architecture of the statue was of great importance.
Present at Laboulayes party was French sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who was offered the job of designing the tribute. In 1871 he went to America and spent a year travelling the country. He arrived in New York and was immediately fascinated by the location of a small island at the entrance to the harbour. Bartholdi felt this would be an ideal position for his sculpture as it would be one of the first sights travellers and immigrants would see when they arrived (Roberts 2002). Clearly, a statue of great stature, whose symbolism could be easily read, needed to be the two main objectives of Bartholdi’s
design.
Bartholdi was a great supporter of colossal statues that commemorated ideals, which were popular at the time (Roberts 2002). His theme was Liberty (liberty personified) and there were numerous works on this subject to gain inspiration from. One sculpture above the Bastille in Paris, The Genius of Liberty showed Liberty as a male, ‘carrying a flaming torch in one hand and a broken chain in the other’ (Roberts 2002, p. 23). Columbia, the unofficial symbol of America was always a robed woman, and she appeared in many civic works during this time and was, therefore, a recognisable figure in American culture. Elements of both these depictions would be evident in the final sculpture. Due to the size of the statue, its construction was done in parts. Each section was made into plaster form, from which wooden moulds were made. Copper was then hammered into the shape of each wood section. This process is known as repousse (Hargrove 2001). Copper had been chosen because of its light weight but the finished statue would need a very strong inner structure to support the monument. This job was given to Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, who would go on to design the Eiffel Tower (Hargrove 2001). All parts were made in France and then shipped to America for assembly. Such a mammoth construction and logistical triumph again highlights the architectural achievements surrounding the Statue of Liberty.
The statue, Liberty Enlightening the World, was unveiled on 28 October 1886 by President Cleveland (Hargrove 2001). It stood 150 feet tall and also acted as a lighthouse. The figure was of a robed woman holding a torch above her head with her right hand and holding a tablet in her left hand. The tablet was inscribed with the date of Americas Declaration of Independence. Under one foot was the remains of broken chains, while the other was lifted to convey forward movement. She had a headdress with seven points, to resemble the sun’s rays, in a continuation of the enlightenment theme (Roberts 2002). This was obviously meant to be a tribute of great presence with obvious ideological imagery.
In conclusion, the Statue of Liberty still succeeds in its functions. In its political form it continues to embody the ideals of freedom and equality to Americans and many people around the world. The architectural significance of the statue, in its concept and function became much more than a piece of civic art. It succeeded in presenting and reflecting the progressive ideals that America was founded on. The size, design and location of the monument have made it an architectural icon of the modern age and an instantly recognisable image throughout the world.