Lion of Belfort

The statue before you is a one-third scale replica of a monumental sculpture located in the eastern French city of Belfort. It was created by the sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, who is world-renowned as the designer of the Statue of Liberty. While the original in Belfort is a colossal work carved directly from red sandstone on the side of a citadel, this Parisian version is crafted from repoussé copper plates. It was installed in eighteen eighty to commemorate the heroic resistance of the town of Belfort during the Franco-Prussian War, where the city famously endured a siege for over one hundred days.