Statue of the Marquis de Lafayette (Lafayette College)
Marquis de Lafayette is a monumental statue on the campus of Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. The statue, designed by Daniel Chester French and standing on a pedestal designed by Henry Bacon, was dedicated in 1921 in honor of the college's namesake, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. The statue is located at the south entrance of Colton Chapel. It is one of a number of sculptures made by French for universities, which includes the statue of John Harvard at Harvard University and Alma Mater at Columbia University. History Background Daniel Chester French was an American sculptor active during the late 1800s and early 1900s who was well known for, among other things, his sculptures commemorating individuals from the American Revolutionary War. In 1885, he submitted an entry in a competition to design a statue of the Marquis de Lafayette in Washington, D.C., but his proposal was passed over in favor of a design by French sculptors Alexandre Falguière and Antonin Mercié. Years after the competition in 1917, French designed the Lafayette Memorial in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. During the designing of this statue, French had created a plaster mold of Lafayette, which he later donated to Lafayette College in Easton,