Frédéric Auguste BARTHOLDI (1834-1904) Lion of... Lot 48

Frédéric Auguste BARTHOLDI (1834-1904) Lion of Belfort Terracotta high-relief proof. Signed A. Bartholdi upper left. Restorations on the terrace. H. 26 W. 35 D. 13 cm Related works: Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, Le lion de Belfort ou Monument à la mémoire des victimes du siège de 1870, 1875-1880, Perugia pink sandstone, H. 11 L. 22 m, Belfort?; Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, Le Lion de Belfort, terracotta relief, H. 24.8 L.?34 D.?11.9 cm, signed and dated A. Bartholdi 1875, Lawrence, Spencer museum of art, inv. 89,39. Related literature: Régis Hueber, Bartholdi: the lion, cat. exhibition, Colmar, Musée Bartholdi, June 5-September 5, 2004, Belfort, Musée d'art et d'histoire, September 18, 2004, January 2, 2005, In 1872, the city of Belfort commissioned Alsatian sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi to create a monument commemorating the French army's victory in the siege of the city by the German Empire in February 1871. Having himself taken part in the Franco-Prussian war, Bartholdi sculpted a monumental lion in pink sandstone overlooking the city. Numerous sketches and scale models are held in public collections.