Liberty Enlightening the World, Offered to the City of Paris by the Americans (1885): Art, History and Details

Liberty Enlightening the World, Offered to the City of Paris by the Americans (1885) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Auguste Louis Lepère (French, 1849–1918); Le Monde Illustré (French, 1857–1940, 1945–1956); Tony Beltrand (French, 1847–1904); Eugène Dété (French, 1848–1922); Frédéric Florian (Swiss, 1858–1926).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Although this statue may be recognizable, the scene is not set in New York. Hundreds of smaller versions of the Statue of Liberty reside around the world, including the one depicted in this print, which is located in Paris. Both the United States and France see the statue as a symbol of freedom, and Americans gave one as a gift to Parisians during the 19th century.

Object facts

• Title: Liberty Enlightening the World, Offered to the City of Paris by the Americans
• Date: 1885
• Creator attribution: Auguste Louis Lepère (French, 1849–1918); Le Monde Illustré (French, 1857–1940, 1945–1956); Tony Beltrand (French, 1847–1904); Eugène Dété (French, 1848–1922); Frédéric Florian (Swiss, 1858–1926)
• Culture: France
• Type: Print
• Technique: wood engraving
• Dimensions: Sheet: 45 x 32.4 cm (17 11/16 x 12 3/4 in.); Image: 26.2 x 20.2 cm (10 5/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Wood engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2007.293

A detail from the museum

This print was published in the popular journal Le Monde Illustré on May 30, 1885.

Collection credit

Gift of Carole W. and Charles B. Rosenblatt

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.