♦ KNOWLEDGE 



would perform certain acts when told to do so, and 

 evident!}- understood simple questions. He sometimes 

 repeated words spoken before him, but only in atitomatic 

 mimicry. 



COLOSSAL STATUES.* 



BAETHOLDl'S STATUE OF LIBERTY. 



UP to the present time no statue had ever been 

 executed of the extraordinary proportions of the 

 Statue of Liberty. In order to form an idea of this work, 

 which was without precedent, it was necessary to give 

 the greatest attention to the means of execution ; it was 

 necessary to foresee the elements of solidity and the 

 exigencies of the transportation to America ; finally it 

 was necessary to seek to avoid heavy expenses into which 

 one is rapidly drawn in a work of this kind, according to 

 the methods employed. The examination of the various 

 •difficulties led lis to adopt the system of hammered 

 -copper, which fi'om au artistic point of view, offers 

 elements of excellence, when it is well treated, which 

 allows of a large subdivision in the pieces, and renders the 

 transportation easy. 



We will examine the various phases of the work. The 

 total height of the first model was 1-25 metres. This 

 was the study-model, which was long sought and often 

 recast. (It is the model which has been reproduced in 

 terra-cotta, the number of the reproductions being 

 limited to 200. Each model was numbered and 

 registered, and a large number of them were sold in aid 

 of the subscription under the name of the " Model of the 

 Committee.") 



After this first study, I made the statue, which 

 measures from the head to the feet 2'8 metres, and in its 

 entirety 2-85 metres. This statue, executed with rigid 

 precision, was reproduced foui- times as large by the 

 ordinary processes. The model which was the result of 

 this work measured about 11 metres in total height. 

 Placed in a large space, it could be taken in by the eye 

 in its entii-ety, and the corrections to be made could still 

 be noted. This statue was divided into a large number 

 of sections, destined to be reproduced separately at four 

 times their size. After this last enlargement, changes 

 were no longer possible. Now the sculptor coiild only 

 aim at very great precision and at great care in the 

 modelling of the siirfaces, which were becoming enormous. 

 It was necessary to study them in their simplicity and 

 their nakedness, so that the form should be flowing and 

 correct, without prominent details which would detract 

 from the general appearance. In an immense workshop, 

 specially constructed for the woi-k, were to be seen four 

 plane surfaces on which the work was carried on. 

 They were encompassed with frames, laid out in 

 numbered divisions. Another similar frame, corre- 

 sponding exactly to the one below, was fastened 

 beneath the ceiling of the workshop. Lead wires and 

 rulers hung all round the frames. On these frames, 

 thus geometrically laid out, the sculptors executed in 

 wood and in plaster enormous fragments of the statue. 

 The sections of the model that thej- were to reproduce 

 were arranged near by under corresponding conditions, 

 between frames of one-fourth the size. The sculptors 

 executed the enlargement by measurements taken with 

 the compass on the lead wires and the rulers. They 

 first laid out the general form with wooden beams 

 covered with lath-work. The wood was then covered 

 with a coating of plaster. They verified the large mea- 

 * From the Neic York T,ih„„e. 



md thut 

 .l)Out 300 



,uts,^Nhlch 



-t ibhshmg 

 .s finished 

 mKcut in 



boles, laiger or 



1. In these 



])rts.sed the 



1 by ham- 



1 1 finished 



sheetb of lead, jircssed upon the model, again working 

 the copper according to the profiles. The pieces of 

 copper were furnished from point to point with iron 

 brace>. inti'iuUMl to givu tliem ria'idity. These braces 

 ^\vr>^ f ■'!■_: '1 ill tlir fMnii .T tl,. r,...] ,'v ■,■. li.^n tlie contour 

 of til' ■ 1 .■■■,■,:-(■ ■!-,i:l' •• \, ". i ■[''■,- furnished 



the I ' '.: • I r I '■! :■ ■! I ■> : ' . ' • ; ■ ^ • '■ i ii'' court, to 



be br..ii-l)i i..Lj<llirr anil f ,-: i a. ■! - .:i i 1,. | - u n-f ul truss- 

 work of iron lieams wliicli serves as sujiport for the 

 whole envelope of the statue. The core of this truss- 

 work is formed by a sort of pylon which has four points 

 of attachment. Each of these points is sustained by 

 three bolted braces, 15 centimetres in diameter, which 



made fi 

 the foundatio 

 trusswork wi 

 constructiiij 



Thistru" ■ 

 of the statue. 



on to the cci 



a depth of 8 metres 



I fram " ' 



e.l ;- 



masonry of 



The whole 



nd executed by the eminent 



: KiiTel. 



a .-.upport for the copper form 

 1 r plates, kept in shape by iron 

 iren braces, which are cramped 

 Thev do not bear in the least 



