A mural titled "The Statue of Liberty's Silent Protest" - featuring Lady Liberty covering her face with her hands and her torch now lying on her chest – has been unveiled in France.
The artwork by Dutch artist Judith de Leeuw reportedly took six days to complete. It is located on a building in the northern city of Roubaix, and was unveiled just in time for this year’s 4 July celebrations.
No coincidence as to the timing, considering the artwork was designed to illustrate the shame felt by many regarding the Trump administration’s immigration policies and ICE detainments of American citizens.
The French location is no fluke either, as de Leeuw stated that Roublaix was chosen due to its “large migrant population.”
"The values that the statue once stood for - freedom, hope, the right to be yourself - have been lost for many," she said.
The Statue of Liberty - originally named La Liberté éclairant le monde (Liberty Enlightening the World) - was originally conceived by French politician Edouard de Laboulaye and designed by French artist Auguste Bartholdi (1834 – 1904).
It is seen as a symbol of liberty, justice and democracy, and was formally delivered to the American minister in Paris on 4 July 1880. Its official unveiling was in New York City's harbour on 28 October 1886, to mark the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence.
Since its unveiling, the painting has gone viral and has been seen by more than 18 million people on X, and it has been picked up by several American news outlets, including USA Today and CBS.
It also didn’t take long for social media users to have their say...
Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett posted on X: “This disgusts me. If any country ought to be kissing our ass, it’s France. My Uncle Roy fought and died and is buried there for their freedom.”
Another pro-Trump account called the artwork “disgusting” and one slammed the mural as “blatant disrespect towards America.”
Conversely, the painting has been praised by many Americans.
"In case you are wondering what the world is thinking of us," one person wrote, while another stated: “That’s an incredible picture of how most Americans feel now. Ashamed.”
"They should come take the real one back,” wrote another user, adding: “We don’t deserve her anymore.”
Funny that should be mentioned, as that last comment echoes those made earlier this year by French lawmaker Raphaël Glucksmann, who suggested that it was time for the green lady to come home.
In March, the center-left member of the European Parliament made a compelling argument for the statue to head back to France, saying that the US no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue in the first place.
“We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty’,” said Glucksmann, adding: “We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.”
Glucksmann’s comments were picked up by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who retaliated by saying that Donald Trump would “absolutely not” return the statue gifted by France to the US nearly 140 years ago.
“My advice to that unnamed low-level French politician would be to remind them that it’s only because of the United States of America that the French are not speaking German right now,” Leavitt said. “So they should be very grateful to our great country.”
Well, Lady liberty may not be coming back to France any time soon, but that hasn’t stopped a group of French sculptors from taking matters into their own hands...
Atelier Missor, which describes itself as the last foundry in France, previously announced on X that it wanted to erect a new Statue of Liberty... Larger, more masculine, and in titanium - “to withstand millions of years.”
The initiative quickly struck a chord with Elon Musk, who commented: “Looks cool.”
Beyond the buzz, financing for this pharaonic project remains unclear.
Atelier Missor has admitted to being on the verge of bankruptcy following an embarrassing affair last January, when the foundry produced a statue of Joan of Arc for the city of Nice. According to FranceInfo, the project reportedly cost €170,000 but the contract was cancelled and the work was ordered to be dismantled, as the commission did not comply with the rules governing the public sector.
This embarrassing setback has cast some doubt as to the feasibility of their titanium Statue of Liberty, making it look more like a publicity stunt.
However, Atelier Missor posted an image on X yesterday, with the caption: “Maybe if we build gigantic statues, we’ll awaken telluric forces. The world will tremble, and a dream will be born.”
In the wake of the Promethean pompousness of that statement, we’re not holding our breath.
Still, time will tell.
