The Roman goddess Libertas became Lady Liberty during the American and French Revolutions and is the subject of numerous nineteenth-century paintings. Her most famous incarnations are the bronze statue commissioned in 1855 for the top of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, where she stands, hardly visible, to this day; and "Liberty Enlightening the World," which we commonly call the Statue of Liberty. She was a gift from France on the occasion of America's centennial. She holds a book in one arm and with her other hand raises a torch, a common symbol of truth and purification through illumination.
If you don't already own a miniature of the Statue of Liberty, buy one and set her on your altar. Before you go to your Fourth of July picnic, contemplate these words of George Washington: "Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all." |
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