Lady Liberté. De la sueur, de l’audace, du génie

Musée des arts et métiers

An immersive experience at the heart of the construction of the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty, or Lady Liberty, is not only the icon of New York and the United States: it is also a masterpiece of ingenuity… French-style! Born in the Paris of the late 19th century, within the ateliers Gaget and that of Auguste Bartholdi, its construction mobilized know-how, trades and men capable of pushing back the technical limits of their time. On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Déclaration d'Indépendance des États-Unis, the MuAM invites you to dive into the backstage of this exceptional project, through an unprecedented and immersive visitor journey. Between video projections, 3D installations and real sets, step into the backstage of a work shaped by sweat, driven by boldness and carried by genius. Immersed in the ateliersFrom the first enlargement techniques to the great departure for New York, the exhibition lets you experience, step by step, the construction of Lady Liberty! The clatter of hammering, the smell of wet plaster, the appearance of Auguste Bartholdi… the sensory walkthrough carries you into the buzz of the ateliers Gaget. Under its glass roofs, the immersive installations reveal the shaping of the plaster models as well as the making of the first full-scale wooden templates. Further on, you are plunged into the heart of the forges, where each copper plate is assembled onto metal frameworks. The visitor journey ends in the bowels of the statue, revealing the ingenious framework designed by Gustave Eiffel… before it was crated for its voyage across the Atlantic. Materials and menBlacksmiths, carpenters, sculptors, boilermakers… nearly a dozen trades, most of which still exist today, worked tirelessly to bring this giant of copper and iron to life! Amid the bustle of the workshops, every gesture mattered, every skill interlocked in service of a true collective epic made of challenges, artisanal feats and technical experimentation. Pieces of Lady LibertyThe exhibition presents iconic pieces from the MuAM collections, brought out of storage especially for the occasion! Models of the head in copper and plaster, a cast of an ear, a life-size copper index finger… so many precious witnesses that let you see, up close, the material, the gestures and the ingenuity at work in this extraordinary human and technical adventure.

Source: Paris Open Data ↗