ABOUT THE STATUE:
Gilbert de Lafayette is one of four European military leaders who assisted the American cause during the Revolution honored with a statue in Lafayette Park just north of The White House in Washington, D.C. The public park is located directly north of the White House on H Street between 15th and 17th Streets NW. The monument was created in 1891, and the sculptors were Jean Falguiere and Marius Mercie.
"Major General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette is a statue in Lafayette Park, by Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguiere.
It was cast in 1890, and installed in April 1891.
The inscription reads:
Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguiere
Marius Jean Antonin Mercie (Base, west side, on cannon:)
Maurice Denonvilliers, Foundeur Paris 1890 (Base, south side, on shield:)
TO
GENERAL
LA FAYETTE
AND HIS
COMPATRIOTS
1777-1783
DERVILLE FARBRE (Base, north side, on cartouche:)
BY THE CONGRESS
IN COMMEMORATION
OF THE SERVICES
RENDERED BY
GENERAL LAFAYETTE
AND HIS COMPATRIOTS
DURING THE STRUGGLE
FOR THE
INDEPENDENCE
OF THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA
As part of American Revolution Statuary in Washington, D.C. the statue is listed on the National Register of Historic Places."
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"Medium: Sculpture: bronze; Base: marble.
Dimensions: Sculpture: approx. 10 x 4 x 4 ft.; Base: approx. 15 x 20 x 20 ft.
Description: Standing portrait of Lafayette as he speaks to the French National Assembly in an effort to get assistance for the Americans and their fight for independence. He is not dressed in a military uniform, but rather in a long coat, vest, boots, and wig. He carries a cape over his proper left arm and his proper left hand rests on a sword. He reaches out with his proper right arm as he takes a step forward with his proper left leg. The sculpture rests atop a square tiered base adorned with bronze figures on all four sides.
On the south side of the base, there is the symbol of America, a bare-breasted female figure seated, but turned to reach up to the statue of Lafayette to offer him a sword she hold with her proper right hand. On the east side of the base are the figures of Comte d'Estaing and Comte de Grasse, commanders of the French naval forces sent to help the U.S. at Lafayette's request. A symbolic anchor rests at the foot of d'Estaing. Both figures are dressed in their military uniforms and stand side by side involved in a discussion. On the west side of the base are the figures of Comte de Rochambeau and the Chevalier du Portail, commanders of the French army forces sent to help the U.S. at Lafayette's request. A symbolic cannon rests at their feet. Both are dressed in military uniforms and are walking side by side. On the north side of the base are two cherubs kneeling below a cartouche inscribed with a thank you made by Congress to Lafayette for his assistance during the Revolution."
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ABOUT THE MAN:
"Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), often known as simply Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer born in Chavaniac, in the province of Auvergne in south central France. Lafayette was a general in the American Revolutionary War and a leader of the Garde nationale during the French Revolution.
In the American Revolution, Lafayette served as a major-general in the Continental Army under George Washington. Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, he still managed to organize a successful retreat. He served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. In the middle of the war he returned to France to negotiate an increase in French support. On his return, he blocked troops led by Cornwallis at Yorktown while the armies of Washington and those sent by King Louis XVI under the command of General de Rochambeau, Admiral de Grasse, and Admiral de Latouche Tréville prepared for battle against the British.
Back in France in 1788, Lafayette was called to the Assembly of Notables to respond to the fiscal crisis. Lafayette proposed a meeting of the French Estates-General, where representatives from the three traditional orders of French society—the clergy, the nobility and the commoners—met. He served as vice president of the resulting body and presented a draft of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Lafayette was appointed commander-in-chief of the Garde nationale in response to violence. During the French Revolution, Lafayette attempted to maintain order—to the point of ordering the Garde nationale to fire on demonstrators at the Champ de Mars in July 1791—for which he ultimately was persecuted by the Jacobins. In August 1792, as the radical factions in the Revolution grew in power, Lafayette tried to flee to the United States through the Dutch Republic. He was captured by Austrians and spent more than five years in prison.
Lafayette returned to France after Napoleon Bonaparte secured his release from prison in 1797. He refused to participate in Napoleon's government, but was elected to the Chamber of Deputies under the Charter of 1815, during the Hundred Days. With the Bourbon Restoration, Lafayette became a liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1815, a position he held until his death. In 1824, President James Monroe invited Lafayette to the United States as the "nation's guest"; during the trip, he visited all twenty-four states. For his contributions to the American Revolution, many cities and monuments throughout the United States bear his name. During France's July Revolution of 1830, Lafayette declined an offer to become the French dictator; instead he supported Louis-Philippe's bid as a constitutional monarch. Lafayette died on 20 May 1834, and is buried in Picpus Cemetery in Paris, under soil from Washington's grave at Mount Vernon. He became a United States citizen during his lifetime, and received honorary United States citizenship in 2002."
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