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Here’s the problem: How do you turn a 4-foot clay model into a 151-foot statue?
The answer: Very slowly and carefully.
Pointing Up
Here’s how it was done:
A wooden framework was built around a model, which had been marked with points. The height, width, and depth of each point was measured from the framework.
▲ Here, workers construct the final wood-and-plaster model of Liberty’s hand.
Repoussé
Once the full-size model was complete:
Workers built wooden forms in the same shape as the plaster pieces.
Skeleton
Here’s how the skeleton, or main support, was built:
Workers made a central tower of four vertical iron beams. These were held together by vertical and horizontal iron bars.
Hundreds of diagonal iron bars were extended from the tower. They were attached to a network of iron “ribs.” These ribs were bent to follow the shape of the statue’s inner surface.
The ribs were riveted (bolted) to the inside of Liberty’s copper “skin.” ▶
Liberty’s head and crown was the second part of the statue to be built. When it was completed in 1878, it was used to lead a parade through the streets of Paris. Then it was shown at the Paris World’s Fair. There, thousands of people climbed 36 steps to look out the windows of Liberty’s crown. ▶
◀ In 1883, outside of Bartholdi’s warehouse, workmen built the iron skeleton. Starting with Liberty’s feet, the statue rose higher and higher. Scaffolding rose along with the statue, as the men worked their way up her body.
