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Abraham Lincoln
Date
1860 (cast 1917)
Cast after
Leonard Wells Volk, 1828 - 1895
Sitter
Abraham Lincoln, 12 Feb 1809 - 15 Apr 1865
Exhibition Label
Born Hardin County, Kentucky
Leonard Wells Volk made this life mask of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, before Lincoln began his run for the
presidency. Volk had wanted to create a bust of him to add to his collection of American statesmen, but Lincoln did not have time to pose. Poet and editor Richard Watson Gilder, who owned a bronze version of the work, wrote after Lincoln’s assassination, “This bronze doth keep the very form and mold / Of our great martyr’s face. Yes, this is he: / That brow all wisdom and benignity . . . .”
Nacido en el condado de Hardin, Kentucky
Leonard Wells Volk tomó este molde de la cara de Lincoln en 1860, antes de que este se postulara para
la presidencia. Volk quería crear un busto de él para añadirlo a su colección de estadistas estadounidenses, pero Lincoln no tenía tiempo para posar. El poeta y editor Richard Watson Gilder, quien poseía una version de la obra en bronce, escribió después del asesinato de
Lincoln: “Este bronce en verdad conserva las formas del rostro de nuestro gran mártir. Sí, es él: esa frente que es toda sabiduría y bondad . . .”.
Provenance
National Museum of American History (now National Museum of American History); transferred to NPG 1971
See more items in
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Exhibition
America's Presidents (Reinstallation September 2017)
On View
NPG, West Gallery 240
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the National Museum of American History
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Object number
NPG.71.24
Type
Sculpture
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Medium
Plaster
Dimensions
14.6 x 21.6 x 23.5cm (5 3/4 x 8 1/2 x 9 1/4")