Marquis de Lafayette, Bronze statue in Union Square Park, Manhattan, New York, US
The Marquis de Lafayette is an outdoor bronze portrait statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, standing on a Quincy granite pedestal in Union Square Park, Manhattan. It shows Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, and was donated by French residents of New York.
Lafayette arrived from France in 1777 at age nineteen and joined the Continental Army as a major general under George Washington. His involvement helped secure French support that proved vital to American victory.
The monument displays symbolic figures representing the bond between France and America during the fight for independence. The bronze representations on the base show how the two nations came together in that struggle.
The bronze statue stands in Union Square Park in Manhattan, reachable by subway to 14th Street–Union Square. It faces the park's interior on its Quincy granite pedestal, so look for it among the paths rather than at the square's edge. The park stays open daily and entry is free.
The statue was a gift from French residents of New York, dedicated on September 6, 1876, the centennial year of American independence. Its sculptor, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was then at work on the Statue of Liberty. In 1991 the Municipal Art Society and the New York City Art Commission's Adopt-A-Monument Program conserved it.
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