Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1875 — The Lafayette Statue. [ARTICLE]

The Lafayette Statue.

The statue of Lafayette, which was ordered by the French Government, under Thiers, in 1871, for presentation to the city of New York as an expression of gratitude, and in remembrance of the friendly offerings and kind feelings of its people during * and at the close of the late war, arrived at this port last week, consigned to the Con-sul-General of France, and in the honorary charge of M. A. Salmon, President of the Cerfele Francais de l’Harmonie. The statue was finished one year ago, but no arrangements had been made for its shipment, nor would there have been at this time had not M. Salmon taken upon liimself the duty of investigating the matter, and assumed the expenses attending its removal. The figure is seven feet high, exclusive of the pediment, and is the work of M. Frederic Bartholdi, an eminent sculptor of the French school, and a native of Colmar, in Alsace. The design represents Gen. Lafayette in his twentieth year, and was suggested to the sculptor by the passage taken from his memoirs in w'hich he says: “As soon as I heard of the Declaration of Independence my heart was enrolled in the cause.” He stands upon tlie bulwarks of the ship, as if in the act of speaking. His right arm is ’ thrown across his breast, the hand grasping the hilt of his sword; the left arm is gracefully extended, and supports a mass—of—drapery which falls at his fefet. Tlie body is firmly posed upon the right foot, while tlie left leg is extended, and only the toe of the military boot rests upon the bulwark. The head is partly turned to the right, and is strikingly in accord with the action of the body. The pose of the figure is excellent, and the simple yet graceful arrangement of the drapery adds greatly to its forfee. The military cloak envelops no part of the figure ; but, as it falls from the arm, lends a grand suggestion of strength to the design, and the formal lines of the military costume assume a picturesqueness which is really attractive. The portrait was studied from paintings of Lafayette taken from life, and is said to be accurate. The sculptor received 150,000 francs for his work. It is wish of the French residents in New York that the statue should be erected in Central Park, and this has been acquiesced in by the park authorities. »No time has yet been set for the unveiling ceremonies, and before this can be done a proper pedestal must be provided, as well as the necessary expenses connected with if e—Appleton*' Journal.