Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi

Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi spent years developing his design for the Statue. He combined the Roman goddess Libertas with a “sunburst” symbolizing reason and enlightenment, a tablet marked “July 4, 1776” in Roman numerals, broken chains at the Statue’s feet signifying emancipation of the enslaved, and a torch that gave meaning to the sculpture’s name: Liberty Enlightening the World.