Editing Statue of Liberty (section)

===Design, style, and symbolism===
[[File:Indian princess and Columbia.jpg|thumb|Detail from a 1855–56 [[fresco]] by [[Constantino Brumidi]] in the [[United States Capitol|Capitol]] in Washington, D.C., showing two early symbols of America: [[Columbia (name)|Columbia]] (left) and the Indian princess]]

Bartholdi and Laboulaye considered how best to express the idea of American liberty.{{sfn|Sutherland|2003|pp=17–19}} In early American history, two female figures were frequently used as cultural symbols of the nation.<ref name=dela/> One of these symbols, the personified [[Columbia (name)|Columbia]], was seen as an embodiment of the United States in the manner that [[Britannia]] was identified with the United Kingdom, and [[Marianne]] came to represent France. Columbia had supplanted the traditional European [[Personification of the Americas]] as an "Indian princess", which had come to be regarded as uncivilized and derogatory toward Americans.<ref name=dela/> The other significant female icon in American culture was a representation of [[Liberty (goddess)|Liberty]], derived from [[Libertas]], the [[Religion in ancient Rome#Roman deities|goddess of freedom]] widely worshipped in [[ancient Rome]], especially among [[emancipated slaves]]. A Liberty figure adorned most [[Coins of the United States dollar|American coins]] of the time,{{sfn|Sutherland|2003|pp=17–19}} and representations of Liberty appeared in popular and civic art, including [[Thomas Crawford (sculptor)|Thomas Crawford]]'s ''[[Statue of Freedom]]'' (1863) atop the dome of the [[United States Capitol Building]].{{sfn|Sutherland|2003|pp=17–19}}

The statue's design evokes iconography evident in ancient history including the Egyptian goddess [[Isis]], the ancient Greek deity of the same name, the Roman Columbia and the Christian iconography of the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History|date=2013|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|editor-last=Bagnall |editor-first=Roger S.|isbn=978-1-4051-7935-5|location=Malden, Massachusetts |oclc=230191195}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Roberts |first=J. M. |title=History of the World|date=1993|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-521043-3|location=New York|oclc=28378422}}</ref>

[[File:Freedom 1.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Thomas Crawford (sculptor)|Thomas Crawford]]'s ''[[Statue of Freedom]]'' (1854–1857) tops the [[United States Capitol dome|dome]] of the [[United States Capitol|Capitol]] building in Washington.]]

Artists of the 18th and 19th centuries striving to evoke [[Classical republicanism|republican ideals]] commonly used representations of Libertas as an allegorical symbol.{{sfn|Sutherland|2003|pp=17–19}} A figure of Liberty was also depicted on the [[Great Seal of France]].{{sfn|Sutherland|2003|pp=17–19}} However, Bartholdi and Laboulaye avoided an image of revolutionary liberty such as that depicted in [[Eugène Delacroix]]'s famed ''[[Liberty Leading the People]]'' (1830). In this painting, which commemorates France's [[July Revolution]], a half-clothed Liberty leads an armed mob over the bodies of the fallen.<ref name=dela/> Laboulaye had no sympathy for revolution, and so Bartholdi's figure would be fully dressed in flowing robes.<ref name=dela/> Instead of the impression of violence in the Delacroix work, Bartholdi wished to give the statue a peaceful appearance and chose a torch, representing progress, for the figure to hold.<ref name=Turner/> Its second toe on both feet is longer than its big toe, a condition known as [[Morton's toe]] or 'Greek foot'. This was an aesthetic staple of ancient Greek art and reflects the classical influences on the statue.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harrison |first1=Marissa A. |title=An exploratory study of the relationship between second toe length and androgen-linked behaviors|journal=[[Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology]] |date=2010 |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=241–253|doi=10.1037/h0099286  | issn=1933-5377 }}</ref>

Crawford's statue was designed in the early 1850s. It was originally to be crowned with a ''[[pileus (hat)|pileus]]'' or "[[Phrygian cap|liberty cap]]", the cap given to emancipated slaves in ancient Rome. [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]] [[Jefferson Davis]], a Southerner who would later serve as President of the [[Confederate States of America]], was concerned that the ''pileus'' would be taken as an [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] symbol. He ordered that it be changed to a helmet.{{sfn|Khan|2010|pp=96–97}} Delacroix's figure wears a ''pileus'',<ref name=dela/> and Bartholdi at first considered placing one on his figure as well. Instead, he used a [[radiate crown|radiate halo]], [[Halo (religious iconography)|nimbus]],<ref name=":0" /> to top its head.{{sfn|Khan|2010|pp=105–108}} In so doing, he avoided a reference to Marianne, who invariably wears a ''pileus''.<ref name=Blume/> Many believed they evoke the sun, the seven seas, and the seven continents,<ref name=mint/>{{sfn|Hayden|Despont|1986|p=45}} and represent another means, besides the torch, whereby Liberty enlightens the world,<ref name=Turner/> but research has not confirmed this.<ref name=":0" />

Bartholdi's early models were all similar in concept: a female figure in neoclassical style representing liberty, wearing a ''[[stola]]'' and ''pella'' (gown and cloak, common in depictions of Roman goddesses) and holding a torch aloft. According to popular accounts, the face was modeled after that of Augusta Charlotte Beysser Bartholdi, the sculptor's mother,{{sfn|Moreno|2000|pp=52–53, 55, 87}} but Regis Huber, the curator of the Bartholdi Museum is on record as saying that this, as well as other similar speculations, have no basis in fact.<ref name=TV>Interviewed for Watson, Corin. ''Statue of Liberty: Building a Colossus'' (TV documentary, 2001)</ref> He designed the figure with  austere face{{sfn|Hayden|Despont|1986|p=45}} and a strong, uncomplicated silhouette, which would be set off well by its dramatic harbor placement and allow passengers on vessels entering [[New York Bay]] to experience a changing perspective on the statue as they proceeded toward Manhattan. He gave it bold classical contours and applied simplified modeling, reflecting the huge scale of the project and its solemn purpose.<ref name=Turner/> Bartholdi wrote of his technique:

{{Blockquote|The surfaces should be broad and simple, defined by a bold and clear design, accentuated in the important places. The enlargement of the details or their multiplicity is to be feared. By exaggerating the forms, in order to render them more clearly visible, or by enriching them with details, we would destroy the proportion of the work. Finally, the model, like the design, should have a summarized character, such as one would give to a rapid sketch. Only it is necessary that this character should be the product of volition and study, and that the artist, concentrating his knowledge, should find the form and the line in its greatest simplicity.<ref name=Bartholdi42/>}}
[[File:Liberty-from-behind-2024.jpg|alt=Statue of Liberty from the back|thumb|Liberty is depicted in a [[contrapposto]] pose, with a raised right foot amidst a broken shackle and chain.]]
Bartholdi made alterations in the design as the project evolved. Bartholdi considered having Liberty hold a broken chain, but decided this would be too divisive in the days after the Civil War. The erected statue does stride over a broken chain, half-hidden by her robes and difficult to see from the ground.{{sfn|Khan|2010|pp=105–108}} Her right foot is raised and set back, in a classical [[contrapposto]] pose that looks stationary when viewed from the front, but dynamic when viewed from the side,{{sfn|Hayden|Despont|1986|p=45}} signifying a solid footing and a posture more relaxed than that of two feet set side by side, and introducing a sense of tension between standing and moving forward, both physically and mentally.{{sfn|Khan|2010|p=113}} The upright form and outstretched leg may have also helped to stabilize the statue.{{sfn|Khan|2010|p=113}} Bartholdi was initially uncertain of what to place in Liberty's left hand; he settled on a ''[[tabula ansata]]'',{{sfn|Khan|2010|pp=108–111}} used to evoke the concept of law.<ref name=faq2/> Though Bartholdi greatly admired the [[United States Constitution]], he chose to inscribe <small>JULY IV MDCCLXXVI</small> on the tablet, thus associating the date of the country's [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] with the concept of liberty.{{sfn|Khan|2010|pp=108–111}}

Bartholdi interested his friend and mentor, architect [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]], in the project.<ref name=TV /> As chief engineer,<ref name=TV /> Viollet-le-Duc proposed designing a brick [[pier (architecture)|pier]] filled with sand within the statue up to the hips, with iron bars like veins of a leaf to which the skin would be anchored.{{sfn|Hayden|Despont|1986|p=24}}
After consultations with the metalwork foundry Gaget, Gauthier & Co., Viollet-le-Duc chose the metal which would be used for the skin, copper sheets, and the method used to shape it, [[Repoussé and chasing|repoussé]], in which the sheets were heated and then struck with wooden hammers.<ref name=TV />{{sfn|Khan|2010|pp=118, 125}} An advantage of this choice was that the entire statue would be light for its volume, as the copper need be only {{convert|0.094|in}} thick. Bartholdi had decided on a height of just over {{convert|151|ft}} for the statue, double that of Italy's [[Sancarlone]] and [[Hermannsdenkmal|the German statue]] of [[Arminius]], both made with the same method.{{sfn|Harris|1985|p=26}} Viollet le Duc also designed the pleats of the dress.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jean-Michel |first=Jean-Michel |year=2016 |title=Au Musée Bartholdi de Colmar, la statue de la Liberté et autres chefs-d'oeuvre |url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/patrimoine/au-musee-bartholdi-de-colmar-la-statue-de-la-liberte-et-autres-chefs-d-oeuvre_3324493.html |website=France Info : culture|language=fr}}</ref>