Bartholdi, Frédéric Auguste

(frādārēk´ ōgüst´ bärtōldē´), 1834–1904, French sculptor, b. Colmar, Alsace. He studied painting under Ary Scheffer but turned to sculpture. Among his many works is a colossal group, Switzerland Succoring Strasbourg, presented by France to Switzerland and now at Basel. His monuments and statues include those of Martin Schongauer at Colmar, Vercingetorix at Clermont-Ferrand, and Lafayette and Washington at Paris. Union Square, New York City, has his sculpture of Lafayette. Bartholdi's colossal Lion of Belfort commemorates the heroic defense of Belfort in 1870–71 and is carved from the rock flanking the citadel. His best-known work is Liberty Enlightening the World (see Liberty, Statue of), erected on Bedloe's Island, New York Bay, and dedicated in 1886.