Larger than Life: Abraham Lincoln Portrait by W.F.K. Travers | BRIdge from the Past
What can the details of a portrait tell us about the sixteenth president? In this episode of BRIdge from the Past, Mary examines W.F.K’s portrait of Abraham Lincoln, which went on display recently at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. The massive portrait is 9 feet tall and contains numerous details that hint at specific parts of Lincoln’s life and his time as president. What image of Lincoln does this portrait attempt to convey?
0:00 Hi everybody. Welcome to another episode of Bridge from the Past. I’m your host, Mary, and this series is all about using primary source images as a starting point to think about important topics in American history and civics. Today. We’re looking at a painting of Abraham Lincoln that recently went on display at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. What does this larger than life portrait tell us about our 16th President?
0:25 Let’s jump in and see. Once again, we’re thinking about what this portrait of Abraham Lincoln can tell us about the 16th President. So this portrait was done by the artist W-F-K. Travers. It was done in 65, and it’s currently on display at the National Portrait Gallery,
0:45 which is part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Whenever you have an image, it’s important to just make some observations before you start asking questions and jumping into your analysis. If you’re using the handout that goes with this video, go ahead and pause here and make some observations of your own. Here are some things that I immediately notice. One is the date 1865.
1:07 I know that in 1865, the Civil War will end and Lincoln will tragically be assassinated. So the fact that this portrait is done in the year that he died, I think is pretty interesting. Another thing that I noticed and I sort of teased at in the introduction is the size of the painting. So this is a life size portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
1:29 You can see that he’s standing. Lincoln was 6ft four inches tall, which is pretty tall for today. So for 1865, he really would have been a towering figure. So it’s a life size portrait. He’s presented as 6ft four inches tall, and the painting itself is 9ft tall. And if you think about it hanging up on a wall, it’s really the sort of powering figure of the President that we see.
1:52 The other thing that I’m noticing is that there’s lots of symbols. I see a globe. I see Lincoln’s hand is on a book. I see some papers on his desk. I see a bust of someone. I see a painting in the background. Portraits are full of symbols on purpose because the artist is trying to tell you something about the subject, in this case, Abraham Lincoln.
2:15 So what do all these symbols mean? Let’s try to unpack some of them. We’ll start by Lincoln’s hand on the book and the desk. So Lincoln’s hand right here is holding a copy of the US. Constitution. This paper on the desk is the 13th Amendment. Lincoln encouraged Congress to send the 13th Amendment to the States
2:37 for ratification before his assassination in 1865. The 13th Amendment, of course, will end slavery in the United States. Over top of the 13th Amendment, you have a small figure of a man breaking out of chains, which is a nod to the ending of slavery. With the 13th Amendment and also the Emancipation Proclamation.
2:58 Which Lincoln issued in January of 1863. So we’ve got the Constitution, the 13th Amendment, the Emancipation Proclamation. All of these are incredibly important documents. And BRI has lots of resources on all of them. If you want to learn more, I would encourage you to check them out. The other thing over the desk is a bust of George Washington.
3:18 And this painting over here is of Washington crossing the Delaware, a very famous painting in its own right by the German American artist Emmanuel Leitza. We’ve actually done a Bridge from the Past on this painting, and it’s full of so many cool things. I would encourage you to check that out as well. So it’s like the artist is trying to connect Abraham Lincoln and George Washington in some way.
3:40 The other thing that I’m noticing here is this globe. Now, the globe is really interesting because it’s kind of difficult to see. But what you have right here is Mexico, Central America and North America. So Central America and the Caribbean are sort of prominent on the globe here. And there are two theories behind why this was done. First, Lincoln was the first president to recognize the Republic of Haiti in 1862.
4:06 Haiti was a country that was founded by enslaved persons. Their revolution began as a slave revolt. So Lincoln was the first to recognize this as a country in 1862. The artist also spent time in Central America as a child. So it’s unclear why this was put there, but I like to think he was trying to recognize Lincoln for finally recognizing the Republic of Haiti.
4:30 The other thing in this painting that’s a mystery and it’s pretty interesting, is down here on the floor. It’s a single black glove. I’m going to go back to the date here of 1865. Historians think that Lincoln sat for this portrait or posed for this portrait while he was alive, but it’s unclear from the historical record of who was coming in and out of the White House at that time.
4:51 So was this painted after Lincoln was assassinated? And this is sort of a symbol of mourning, right? A black glove on the floor? No one is really sure. And that’s part of the fun, I think, is that we have this sort of mystery. Talk a little bit more about the context for this paintings. The painting was privately owned for a while, and it first went on public display in 1876 in Philadelphia
5:13 for the centennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence. And the painting of Lincoln here hung next to this portrait. Very famous portrait of George Washington, which is called the Lancetown Portrait, and it’s by the artist Gilbert Stewart. So you can see that Lincoln and Washington are really sort of put side by side, as we have sort of the father of our country and the savior of the Union,
5:37 the importance of these two presidents in American history. Washington also has the Constitution on his desk and they both have these sort of feather pens. I’m sure Lincoln wasn’t writing with a feather pen in 1865, but again, trying to make this connection between the importance of these two presidents. We started by asking what this portrait of Lincoln could tell us about our 16th president.
5:58 And we learned a lot about the symbolism in the painting, the connections between Lincoln and Washington, and why they’re both so important in American history. But as always, there’s so much more to the story. So now I’m going to turn it over to you. What questions do you have? What else do you want to learn? What do you want to know more about? Leave me a comment below.
6:20 If you learned something, be sure to like this video and subscribe to our channel to learn more about resources, videos, contests, everything we can do at BRI to help you through the school year. I’ll be back soon with another primary source image. Until then, keep asking questions and take care. Well, I’m done studying.
6:40 That video filled in all the blanks for me. Well, just in case you need more help, the Bill of Rights Institute’s YouTube channel has tons of videos on American history, government, and civics. From primary source document breakdowns, to historical image analysis, whether you’re studying for a test or just interested in more, they’ve got something for you. And they put out more videos all the time.
7:01 Really? Well, in that case, there’s no harm in brushing up on a few more topics. Check out another video here, and be sure to subscribe here so you are never left out.
