Head of Abraham Lincoln

Image Not Available for Head of Abraham Lincoln
Head of Abraham Lincoln
Image Not Available for Head of Abraham Lincoln

Head of Abraham Lincoln

Datecast c. 1923; from head of The Standing Lincoln in Lincoln Park, Chicago, 1884-1888
MediumBronze with marble base
Dimensions23 × 9 × 12 in. (58.4 × 22.9 × 30.5 cm)
base: 4 3/4 × 9 × 9 in. (12.1 × 22.9 × 22.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of Rufus Erickson, 2002
Object number2002-6
On View
On view
Label TextThis sculpture is based on the head of Saint-Gaudens’ Standing Lincoln made for Lincoln Park in Chicago in the 1880s. The sculptor formed his conception of Lincoln’s physiognomy from personal memory, photographs of the president, and from a life cast made of Lincoln’s face in 1860 by the sculptor Leonard W. Volk.

Saint-Gaudens was so moved by what he knew and learned about Abraham Lincoln that the final form of the Chicago standing figure transformed the stern visage of a homely gentleman into a contemplative and compassionate man. The Standing Lincoln was widely acclaimed after its 1887 unveiling not only as a true likeness but as an archetype of this great man.
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