Object Details
- Artist
- Charles Wesley Jarvis, 1812 - 1868
- Sitter
- Abraham Lincoln, 12 Feb 1809 - 15 Apr 1865
- Exhibition Label
- Born Hodgenville, Kentucky
- Entrusted with guiding the nation through a civil war, Abraham Lincoln was beset from the start with criticism from all sides. There were those who accused him of moral cowardice when he initially insisted that the purpose of engaging in a war with the South was to preserve the Union and not to eliminate slavery. His wartime suspension of basic civil rights gave rise to charges of despotism, and when the conflict went badly for the North, the blame inevitably fell on him. But as Union forces advanced toward victory in the field, Lincoln’s eloquent articulation of the nation’s ideals and ultimate call for an end to slavery gradually invested him with a saintly grandeur. Following his assassination in 1865, that grandeur became virtually unassailable.
- Nacido en Hodgenville, Kentucky
- Con la encomienda de guiar a la nación en medio de una guerra civil, Abraham Lincoln se vio asediado desde un principio por críticas de todos los sectores. Hubo quienes lo acusaron de cobardía moral cuando inicialmente insistió en que la guerra con el sur era para preservar la Unión y no para eliminar la esclavitud. Cuando suspendió los derechos civiles básicos como medida de guerra, lo acusaron de despotismo, y cuando la situación se puso difícil para el norte, también la culpa recayó en él. Pero a medida que las fuerzas de la Unión avanzaban hacia la victoria, Lincoln fue adquiriendo un aura de beatífica grandeza gracias a su elocuente articulación de los ideales nacionales y su posterior exhortación a terminar con la esclavitud. A raíz de su asesinato en 1865, esa grandeza se volvió inexpugnable.
- Provenance
- (Michael and Vivian Arpad, Washington, D.C.); gift 1978 NPG
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Arpad
- 1861
- Object number
- NPG.78.272
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Stretcher: 76.2 x 63.8 x 3.8cm (30 x 25 1/8 x 1 1/2")
- Frame: 101.3 × 89.5 × 12.7cm (39 7/8 × 35 1/4 × 5")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Beard
- Costume\Jewelry\Pin
- Abraham Lincoln: Male
- Abraham Lincoln: Law and Crime\Lawyer
- Abraham Lincoln: Military and Intelligence\Soldier
- Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government official\President of US
- Abraham Lincoln: Social Welfare and Reform\Reformer\Environmentalist
- Abraham Lincoln: Business and Finance\Businessperson\Merchant
- Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government official\US Congressman\Illinois
- Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government official\Surveyor
- Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government official\State Senator\Illinois
- Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government official\Postmaster
- Abraham Lincoln: Business and Finance\Tradesman\Boat builder
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.78.272
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4849353a1-b1b1-4798-8a6e-5ff5d0551f3c
