The Lion of Belfort exhibited at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lille is a plaster cast, indicating the existence of a preexisting model. The use of this material is valuable for preserving the research phase in a durable, lightweight, and cost-effective medium. Plaster primarily allows for markings to be made, enabling the production of numerous copies at various scales. Here, the plaster cast of the Lion of Belfort bears seam marks, indicating that its creation involved assembling multiple molds or molded pieces.
The Lion at the Beaux-Arts Museum of Lille thus represents a finalized state and led to the creation of the definitive one-third scale plaster model on September 3, 1875.
After some minor adjustments, Bartholdi produced his monumental and final version measuring 22 meters. Situated upstream of the city of Belfort, it is composed of carved blocks of pink Pérouse sandstone.
This type of Vosges stone was favored for its symbolism, replacing the originally planned white limestone. Beyond the argument of using local stone, the Strasbourg Cathedral, a highly evocative site dear to Bartholdi, is also constructed of Pérouse sandstone. The carved blocks were assembled with cement mortar, beginning with the tail and progressing to the entire animal. A glorious symbol of French defense and its fighters, the Lion of Belfort was freed from its scaffolding and completed in 1880.
