State of Liberty Blueprints Found, Show Late Change

ustave Eiffel may be best known for the Parisian tower that bears his name, but the French engineer played a key role in the construction of another structure with worldwide fame: the Statue of Liberty. A recently discovered set of Eiffel’s original schematic drawings for Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s statue—which weren’t previously known to have survived—show the development of his innovative design. For more than a century, Eiffel’s engineering ideas helped the statue withstand the high winds and salty air of New York Harbor. More curiously, the drawings also hint at a last minute change to Lady Liberty’s upraised, torch-bearing arm.