gmatty's Photos : The Liberty Of Poetry

The Statue of Liberty (whose official name is Liberty Enlightening the World) illuminates New York with her torch and has a precursor in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence. The Florentine statue represents The Liberty of Poetry, and thus the freedom of art and of creative genius in general; in her left hand she holds a lyre and a crown of laurel and in her right hand which is held aloft are the remnants of a broken chain, the symbol of defeated tyranny. She differs from her stern American cousin in her more feminine form, in the gentle grace of her pose. The possibility that this statue, sculpted by Pio Fedi, was the inspiration, or one of the sources of inspiration, for her bigger sister cannot be dismissed: a plaster cast of Santa Croce statue - identical to the final statue - had already been completed 1872, after the preparatory drawings had been in circulation in contemporary artistic circles for some time. The statue in marble was commissioned for the tomb of Giovan Battista Niccolini (1782 - 1861) on the tenth anniversary of his death; it was completed by 1877 and installed in the Basilica and inaugurated in 1883 in honor of this hero of the Italian Risorgimento.

Statue Of Liberty Italy Santa Croce Florence Poetry