{"id":1600,"date":"2015-09-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-19T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.newyorkcafe.hu\/a-szabadsag-szobor-fresko-legendaja-a-new-york-kavehazban-valoban-elobb-keszult-a-fresko-mint-ahogy-a-szobrot-felallitottak\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T13:41:50","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T12:41:50","slug":"the-legend-of-the-statue-of-liberty-fresco-at-the-new-york-cafe-was-the-fresco-really-painted-before-the-statue-was-erected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/a-szabadsag-szobor-fresko-legendaja-a-new-york-kavehazban-valoban-elobb-keszult-a-fresko-mint-ahogy-a-szobrot-felallitottak\/","title":{"rendered":"The legend of the Statue of Liberty fresco at the New York Caf\u00e9 \u2013 was the fresco really painted before the statue was erected?!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"abstract\">\n\nUrban legend, or is it true?! The fresco on the ceiling above the entrance to the New York Caf\u00e9, which (also) depicts the Statue of Liberty, is said to have been painted in the caf\u00e9 before the actual statue was erected\u2026 But what is the truth?\u00a0The New York Caf\u00e9 opened its doors in 1894 and, with its air of sophistication and magnificent design reminiscent of the finest Western standards, welcomed both wealthy, well-to-do aristocrats and Hungary\u2019s most famous writers and poets.\n\n<\/div>\n<h2>The New York Caf\u00e9 and the Legend of the Statue of Liberty<\/h2>\nAt that time, the 19th-century French Republic seemed to many to be on the brink of collapse. Consequently, as an expression of this ideal \u2013 and, incidentally, as a political strategy \u2013 the country decided to present a gift to America across the Atlantic. This monumental masterpiece was created to mark the 100th anniversary of American independence.  Bearing in mind its significance, the politician and historian \u00c9douard Ren\u00e9 Lefebvre de Laboulaye took part in numerous debates, during which efforts were made to propose a suitable gift. Eventually, the French sculptor Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned to design a statue for 1876. The first small-scale model was erected in Paris, in what is now the Jardin du Luxembourg, in 1870. The two countries agreed that the French would build the statue, whilst the Americans would construct the pedestal.\n\nTo raise the necessary funds, various taxes were levied in France. Furthermore, events and a lottery were organised to speed up the collection of 2,250,000 francs. In America, the necessary funds were raised through charity events and boxing matches.   The pedestal was finally completed on 22 April 1886. The statue had already been completed in France in July 1884. It consists of 350 pieces, which were transported to New York in 214 packages on 17 June 1885 aboard the frigate Is\u00e8re. The statue was unveiled by Grover Cleveland on 28 October 1886 in front of the city\u2019s residents.\n<h2>The opening of the New York Caf\u00e9<\/h2>\nAfter all this, only one question remains \u2013 which came first? The New York Caf\u00e9 opened its doors in 1894, almost 10 years after the Statue of Liberty was erected.The legend has therefore been disproved \u2013 the Statue of Liberty appeared in New York before the Caf\u00e9 did \u2013 but the fresco and the unrivalled surroundings continue to enchant all our dear guests to this day!","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Urban legend, or is it true?! The fresco on the ceiling above the entrance to the New York Caf\u00e9, which (also) depicts the Statue of Liberty, is said to have been painted in the caf\u00e9 before the actual statue was erected\u2026 But what is the truth? The New York Caf\u00e9 opened its doors in 1894 and, with its air of sophistication and magnificent design reminiscent of the finest Western standards, welcomed both wealthy, well-to-do aristocrats and Hungary\u2019s most famous writers and poets.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fine-dining"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1600"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3942,"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1600\/revisions\/3942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newyorkcafe.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}