Diplomatic gift recasting of the statue (c. 1920) in Parliament Square, London
Diplomatic gift recasting of the statue (c. 1964) in Parque Lincoln, Mexico City
Abraham Lincoln: The Man (also calledStanding Lincoln) is a larger-than-life size 12-foot (3.7 m)bronzestatue ofAbraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. The original statue is inLincoln Park inChicago, and later re-castings of the statue have been given as diplomatic gifts from the United States to the United Kingdom, and to Mexico.
Completed byAugustus Saint-Gaudens in 1887, it has been described as the most important sculpture of Lincoln from the 19th century.[1] At the time, theNew York Evening Post called it "the most important achievement American sculpture has yet produced".[2] Abraham Lincoln II, Lincoln's only grandson, was present, among a crowd of 10,000, at the initial unveiling.[3] The artist later created theAbraham Lincoln: The Head of State ('Seated Lincoln') sculpture in Chicago'sGrant Park.
The sculpture depicts a contemplative Lincoln rising from a chair of state,[a] about to give a speech. It is set upon apedestal and, in Chicago, anexedra designed by architectStanford White.[5] White's setting includes carved and bronze caste excerpts of Lincoln's writings.[b] Chicago businessman Eli Bates (1806–1881) provided $40,000 in his will for the statue. Saint-Gaudens was specially selected for the commission after a design competition failed to produce a winning artist.[c] Saint-Gaudens, who revered the President, had seen Lincoln at the time of his inauguration, and later viewed Lincoln's body lying in state. For his design, the artist also relied on a life mask and hand casts made of Lincoln in 1860 byLeonard W. Volk.[2] While planning and working on theStanding Lincoln, Saint-Gaudens was first enticed to what would becomehis home and studio, and an associated artist's colony. To convince him to vacation nearCornish, New Hampshire, a friend told him the area had "many Lincoln-shaped men".[6]
AStanford White designed exedra (semicircular platform with bench) frames Saint Gaudens' original statue
The sculpture's "combination of a natural-looking Lincoln ... with a Classical-style architectural setting" influenced a generation of sculptors.[1] One sculptorStanding Lincoln significantly influenced wasDaniel Chester French, who would go on to create the Lincoln statute at theLincoln Memorial in 1920.[4] The monument was also a favorite ofHull House founderJane Addams, who once wrote, "I walked the wearisome way from Hull-House to Lincoln Park ... in order to look at and gain magnanimous counsel from the statue."[7] JournalistAndrew Ferguson discusses the statue at length in his bookLand of Lincoln, writing that the statue presents "a sort of world-weariness that seems almost kind".[3] The City of Chicago awarded the monumentlandmark status on December 12, 2001.[1] It is located near theChicago History Museum and North Avenue.
The Parliament Square statue was given to the United Kingdom in July 1920. The American Ambassador made a formal presentation atCentral Hall, Westminster, where Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George accepted the gift on behalf of the people of Britain; after a procession to Parliament Square, the statue was unveiled byPrince Arthur, Duke of Connaught.[9][11]
Smaller-sized bust copy from the statue in theOval Office. (President Obama is seated to the left)
The Mexico City statue was presented by United States PresidentLyndon Johnson to the people of Mexico in 1964.[6][12] Later, Johnson received a small copy of thebust from the statue, which since then is often seen displayed in theOval Office of the White House.[6]
From 1910 onwards, Saint-Gaudens' widow, Augusta, oversaw the casting of a number of smaller replicas of the statue, reduced to slightly under one-third the size of the original.[4]
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: first cast – sold to Clara Stone Hay, 1911, previously on display in Washington. The sculpture belonged to the family of Lincoln's White House aideJohn Hay.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven: second cast – gift of Allison Armour, 1937, originally purchased by George Armour
Harvard Art Museums: third cast – purchased from Doll & Richards, Boston, by Grenville L. Winthrop, 1912
^Lincoln's chair-of-state is adorned with an eagle in relief and the mottoe pluribus unum. The chair's composition was informed by the ancient GreekThrone of the Priest (c. 330 BCE) from theTheater of Dionysos in Athens.[4]
^The statue's "'profound solemnity' was later reinforced as Saint-Gaudens, on the recommendation of his close friend and critical advocateRichard Watson Gilder, poet and editor ofThe Century Magazine, studied Lincoln's speeches and writings in preparation for the commission. Excerpts from theCooper Union speech (February 27, 1860) andsecond inaugural address (March 4, 1865) were carved into the accompanying sixty-foot-long exedra, while bronze cannonballs flanking the steps have extracts from theGettysburg Address (November 19, 1863) and a letter written to Horace Greeley (August 22, 1862), editor of the New-York Daily Tribune."[4]
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