PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — When French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi designed the Statue of Liberty as a gift to the United States on behalf of his countrymen, he eventually chose Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, as the female figure on which to base his work.
According to some accounts, in fact, Bartholdi went out of his way to make the statue non-controversial, designing the crown with seven rays to represent the seven seas and seven continents orbiting the sun.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …”
You know the rest.