'The Freed Slave' statue in Memorial Hall at the  Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876 -- ORIGINAL print, front cover of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, August 5, 1876. Authentic - not a reprint.

Page size: approx 16 x 11 inches.

Summary: The display in Memorial Hall at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in
Philadelphia included a life-size bronze sculpture titled "The Abolition
of Slavery" by Italian artist Francesco Pezzicar. The sculpture
depicted an African American man standing with his arms raised
triumphantly, showing a broken shackle on his right wrist and holding a
copy of the Emancipation Proclamation in his left hand. Pezzicar hoped
that this image celebrating the ideals of freedom and self-determination
would resonate with American audiences on the 100th anniversary of the
Declaration of Independence, but many critics in Philadelphia found the
sculpture too aggressive and racially confrontational. Popular opinion
instead favored another sculpture by American artist Thomas Ball that
depicted an African American man with a similar broken shackle and copy
of the Emancipation Proclamation crouching at the feet of Abraham
Lincoln in gratitude for his freedom. Unable to find an American buyer
for his sculpture, Pezzicar shipped it back to Italy where it eventually
ended up in the Revoltella Museum in Trieste.