How much fabric (in yards) would it take to clothe the Statue of Liberty, in her existing gown?
Tyfanie A. The Statue is about 35 feet in diameter at the waist, 111 feet tall, with a 17′ long head, about 90 feet to the shoulders. Very roughly, then 1200 square yards of surface area, but the way she’s wrapped, two layers, and to allow for some trim, her garment consists of about 4000 square yards of cloth. Q. Can you tell me why the statue is clothed in a classical style of a Roman deity? And, which deity? Joan A. The dress is described as “a canonical tunic overlaid by a peplum”. Very Roman. Bartholdi was intent on expressing the timelessness and classic nature of Liberty. The clothing carries that theme back to the earliest images of Greek and Roman statues, many of which were similarly representative of concepts rather than literal figures. There is no specific deity referenced by the statue. There were several contemporary Liberty representations with similar attire – Delacroix’s Liberty guiding the People, 1830 and Fede’s Liberty in Florence Italy, 1872, among others. A good
