Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-05
SCULPTOR BARTHOLDI
EMINENT FRENCHMAN ESTEEMED
AMERICA AND AMERICANS.
His Donations to This Country
Visited the United States Dur
ing the Commune.

Frederick Auguste Bartholdi, the famous
| sculptor. whose death in Paris was printed
| in yesterdays Star, was born at Colmar,
France on April 2 1884. His mother, 1t is
| said, was the original for the familiar wo-
| mans form used in the great statue.
He was a cousin of Baron Jean Francois
Bartholdi. minister of France to Washing
| ton, who succeeded the Marquis de Noail-
| les In 1874. He studied painting under AIRY
| Scheffer. but speedily took to sculpture, ex-
| hibiting many busts at the salons. but not
coming into prominence until after the
| Franco-German war. in which he fought on
| the stan of Garibaldi To commemorate
the Defense of Belport" he sculptured the
immense lion. figure eighty feet long and
thirty high, partly cut in the rock and
partly built up with stone, which stands
against the face of the citadels plateau.
Testimonial to Americans.
| AS testimonial of gratitude to Ameri-
cans for their sympathy and service in that
was the statue OF Lafayette in Union
square. was given to New York. 1t came
from Bartholdi's chisel. as also SUISSE
quently did one Of the public fountains of
| Washington and the four bas-reliefs around
the steeple of the Brattle Square Church.
Boston. In the last named the faces of his
| friends and well-known public men are re-
produced.
The Liberty was a successor to these ear
lier conceptions. Years after its nstalla-
| ton Bartholdi still dreamed of his Ameri-
| can creation, and he talked of plans last
| year whereby Liberty Island might be made
an American Pantheon, with all the Presi-
dents buried there, and their graves sur
rounded with statues of those whose deeds
had helped to make the newer country
great.
| His last work on which he was engaged
af tha
| year at his Paris home on the left bank of
| the Seine river-he lived at go Rue de AS
sas-was a new monument for Paris, to
commemorate the heroism Of men who
maintained communication during the siege
| Of Paris my means of balloons, mails and
telegraphs operated under conditions of
extreme peril The sculptor had been q
| fighter also.
A Veteran. of War.
veteran of the Franco Prussian war, in
which he served with distinction, Bartholdi
had in 1872, executed bronze and marbls
group entitled 1.-The Malediction Of Alsace."
, His next work after that showed a new
and interesting bent; it was Lafayette Ar
| irving in America
Within the later 70s and early sos the
American Liberty, holding a beacon over
the sea at the port of New York was
Planned, and the models in successive
agreements of scale were completed by the
sculptor. The details of the huge casting
model. surrounded by Lilliputian sculptors
and workmen, became familiar in the pub
lie prints of the day. The casting Of the
| metal sections was matter of years.
Ceremonial presentation of the work from
the French nation to this country was
made at Paris.
Levi P. Morton was minister to France If
the time, and he received the gift on behalf
OF the United States on July f. 1884.
Statue Brought Here in Sections.
The in
the Atlantic in a government vessel, and It
was at last completed in it's chosen site On
Bedloes Island on October %, 1885, A replica
In less gigantic proportions was subscribed
for by American citizens, and at the time
of the Paris exposition of 1889 it was placed
in the, French capital at the, Bridg, OF
| Grenelle. ..-..--~ -.
Bartholdi in December. 1856, was made a
commander of the Legion of Honor lie
had becomesa member originally on August
Il. 1850 and had, been made an officer of
the order on August 26, 1882.
His American work, besides the statue of
Liberty includes the figures of Washington
and Lafayette decorating the Place des
Etats Unis here; the Bartholdi fountain in
the botanical gardens at Washington, and
the bronze group of the 'Leisules Of
Peace, In New York.
~ Visited the United States.
Bartholdi visited the United States In til.
| sue his studio work in Paris. The mag
nificent position presented by New York
harbor for. a statue of colossal dimensions
struck him. and when a body of dfstfn-
gu!shed Frenchmen formed a society to
carry out the project his design was ap-
proved. In FIVE years France subscribed the
S250,0OO necessary for the purpose. Barth-
oldl spent on the statue nearly ten years
Mr.. Levi P. Morton. then United States
minister to France. received the gift July
4, 1884: 1t was brought over on a shio Of
state, erected on Bedloes island and dedi-
Gated with imposing ceremonies October IS,
1886. President Cleveland making the speech
Of acceptance and Bartholdi himself unveil-
ing the statue. The sculptor was enthusi-
astic throughout in giving effect to tie
idea OF France presenting to the people If
the United States a suitable gift commerl-
orative of the traditional feeling of good
| will existing between the two nations
He volunteered his artistic services for
the construction of the figure and when
private fortune to defray the running ex-
penSeS of the work. He had made deem
study Of colossal figures In Egypt, Greece
and elsewhere in order to master the prln-
| modelled the Liberty after the figure OF
his own mother
BarthOldf himself physically was a strik-
ing man of medium height, but with broad
shoulders and sturdy. muscular frame. Ills
family was of Italian origin and he had
an Italian dash in his temperament He
was charming companion at all times and
under all circumstances.
ASSIGNED TO REGIMENTS.
Enlisted Men Who Have Just Received
Commissions.