The Statue of Liberty (originally called Liberty Enlightening the World) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It was designed by Frederic Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue is a robed female figure representing Liberties, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata upon which is inscribed the date of American independence. A broken chain also lies at her feet. The statue has become an iconic symbol of freedom and of the United States. Bartholdi was inspired by French law professor and politician Eduard Rene de Laboulaye, who commented in 1865 that any monument raised to American independence would properly be a joint project of the French and American peoples.