Bartholdi, Frédéric-Auguste

(born April 2, 1834, Colmar, Alsace, Fr.—died Oct. 4, 1904, Paris) French sculptor. He studied sculpture and painting in Paris. In 1865 he and several others conceived the idea for a monument to the Franco-American alliance of 1778. Beginning work in 1870, Bartholdi designed the huge statue that would come to be known as the “Statue of Liberty” (1875–86) and was able to see its construction through using funds he raised in both France and the U.S. While not as famous, his masterpiece is the Lion of Belfort (1871–80), carved out of the red sandstone of a hill overlooking Belfort in eastern France.