... middle of New York Harbor, in Manhattan, New York City. The statue, designed by Fr茅d茅ric Auguste Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886, was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. She also holds charters of rights of man on the other hand. A broken chain lies at her feet. On the earth in the foreground of the image lie the shattered remains of absolutist institiutions. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States: a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad. 馃嚭馃嚥
