Abraham Lincoln

Exhibition Label: Born Hardin County, Kentucky Exhibition Label: Leonard Wells Volk made his 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.…” Exhibition Label: Nacido en Hardin County, Kentucky Exhibition Label: Leonard Wells Volk le hizo a Abraham Lincoln una mascara del natural en 1860, antes de que iniciara su campana presidencial. Volk había querido crear un busto de Lincoln para su colección de políticos estadounidenses, pero este no tuvo tiempo para posar. El poeta y editor Richard Watson Gilder, quien poseía una versión en bronce de la obra, escribió tras el asesinato de Lincoln: “Este bronce conserva la forma fiel / 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