Of course, you had figured it out without me insulting you by explaining: the Statue of Liberty on Place Picard in Bordeaux is a replica of the one standing in the United States of America.
But do you know its story? Its secrets?
A REPLICA COMMISSIONED BY THE CITY OF BORDEAUX
This scaled-down replica of the Statue of Liberty recalls the one the sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi gave to the city of Bordeaux in 1888.
A few years before the real Statue of Liberty overlooked the port of New York, Bartholdi had been asked by the city of Bordeaux to design a fountain for the Quinconces hemicycle. He won the first prize but his project, judged too expensive, was never built. Frustrated, Bartholdi donated a smaller version of the famous statue to the city. The city hall would only have to cover the casting and installation costs.
Set on a tall stone pedestal, the statue was paired with a public fountain decorated with bronze lion heads spitting water into a circular basin. Inaugurated on 28 April 1888 by President Sadi Carnot, it was dismantled in 1941 by the Germans, who were interested in the bronze, but far more in destroying the symbol.
A copy of a copy…
Since the year 2000, a resin copy, smaller than the previous one, stands in the middle of the square. Its austere, cold face is said to be inspired by Meritt Singer, the wife of the inventor of the sewing machine.
