After Fréderic Auguste Bartholdi

After FRÉDERIC AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI (Colmar, 1834-Paris, 1904).
"Lion of Belfort".
Patinated bronze.
Signed and with foundry stamp.
Measurements: 8 x 3,5 x 12 cm.
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was a French sculptor and painter. In 1853, Bartholdi presented a sculptural group with the theme of the Good Samaritan to the Paris Salon of 1853. The statue was later recreated in bronze. Two years after his Salon debut, his hometown of Colmar commissioned him to create a bronze sculpture of Jean Rapp, a Napoleonic general. In 1855 and 1856, Bartholdi traveled through Yemen and Egypt with fellow travelers such as Jean-Léon Gérôme and other "orientalist" painters. The trip sparked Bartholdi's interest in colossal sculpture.In 1869, Bartholdi returned to Egypt to propose the construction of a new lighthouse at the entrance to the newly completed Suez Canal. The lighthouse, which was to be called Egypt Brings Light to Asia and was in the form of a huge draped figure holding a torch, was not commissioned. Both the khedive and Lesseps rejected Bartholdi's statue proposal, citing its high cost.