Lady Liberty in Paris

Last week I was in Paris, and entering the courtyard of the Musée des Arts et Métiers (highly recommended–the small museums in Paris are fantastic), we were greeted by a bronze model of the Statue of Liberty, 1/16 the size of the final version. Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, the creator of the Statue of Liberty, used this scale model to fabricate the actual Statue of Liberty. He first magnified the model to one that was four times larger, and then dividing the quarter-size model into sections that he enlarged another four times to their ultimate dimensions. 

Inside the museum is a fascinating series of miniatures that depict the construction of the Statue of Liberty, complete with tiny workers on scaffolding.

My colleague Siqi reminded me that there is also a Statue of Liberty replica in Tokyo Bay. In fact, there is a wikipedia page about all the Statue of Liberty copies around the world.

 – Meera

PS In addition to the Statue of Liberty, Tokyo Bay also has a Gundam statue. Perhaps Paris or New York should consider a gundam too.