Lady Liberty is getting a little sister ahead of July 4, 2021. A replica of the Statue of Liberty will begin the journey from Paris, France, to New York City in June 2021, as a symbol of French-American friendship.
The new statue stands at under 10 feet, a sixteenth of her much bigger and older sister’s size, and it is made of bronze. She is based on an 1878 plaster model by the French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, who was the creator of the original statue, and was installed outside a museum in France in 2011.
On July 1-5, she will be on Ellis Island, facing her sister on Liberty Island. She then will be moved to the French ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C., where she will be on display from July 14 — France’s Bastille Day — until 2031.
The French Embassy tweeted about the new statue’s voyage:
The Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation also tweeted that tickets were available to view the smaller statue in early July:
On June 8, 2021, the U.S. Embassy in France shared a video of a crane lifting the statue up:
The statue will begin its transatlantic voyage by sea on June 19, when it will leave from a harbor in Normandy, and arrive in New York after nine days.
Fun fact: The original Statue of Liberty was initially a different color.