Presentation Drawing of "The Statue of Liberty Illuminating the World"

Presentation Drawing of "The Statue of Liberty Illuminating the World"

Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi

Details

Dimensions
Sheet: 33 7/16 × 51 3/16 in. (85 × 130 cm)
Department
Drawings and Prints
Holding institution
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
License
CC0-1.0
Credit
Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2014

Art Genome Taxonomy

11 tags

Artistic Disciplines

  • Architecture Metadata · 90%

    The work is classified as “Drawing; Ornament & Architecture,” and the image presents a monumental architectural setting centered on a statue and pedestal.

Subject Matter

  • Waterscapes Visual · 99%

    Water surrounds the central island or platform and occupies much of the foreground and middle distance.

  • Cityscapes Visual · 86%

    Dense, grid-like built-up areas and shorelines extend across both sides of the water behind the monument.

  • Light as Subject Both · 94%

    The title emphasizes illumination, and the image visibly makes the torch and its broad beams the dominant upper compositional feature.

Visual Qualities

  • Radiating Lines Visual · 99%

    Numerous white linear beams spread outward from the raised torch in a pronounced radial arrangement.

  • Earth Tones Visual · 98%

    The drawing is dominated by muted brown, tan, ochre, and charcoal-gray tones, with lighter chalk accents.

Medium and Techniques

  • Drawing Metadata · 99%

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art identifies the classification as Drawings and the medium as charcoal heightened with white chalk.

  • Work on Paper Both · 99%

    The catalog specifies a sheet measuring 85 × 130 cm, and the image is visibly a large drawing made on a paper support.

Time Periods

Geographic Regions

  • French Art Metadata · 96%

    The artist is identified as French in the museum record: “French, Colmar 1834–1904 Paris.”

Materials

  • Chalk Metadata · 99%

    The cataloged medium explicitly includes white chalk.

Source & rights

Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi. Presentation Drawing of "The Statue of Liberty Illuminating the World". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.