Abraham Lincoln

Object Details

Exhibition Label: Alexander Gardner took this portrait of Abraham Lincoln at the last sitting the president gave him, on Sunday, February 5, 1865. That same sitting produced the accidental masterpiece known as the “cracked-plate” portrait. The other photographs from this session had Gardner’s characteristic sharpness and clarity in the president’s face and expression. However, here, the president’s hands were fidgety, as evidenced by the blurring of the eyeglasses and the pencil that he holds as props. From this original image, Gardner and his assistants cleaned up the blurring during post-production editing or retouching, a nineteenth-century version of Photoshop. They also introduced a subtle variation: in some of the prints, instead of spectacles, Lincoln is holding a penknife, with which he would presumably sharpen the pencil.

1865

Medium: Albumen silver print
Dimensions: Image/Sheet: 8.7 x 5.4 cm (3 7/16 x 2 1/8"); Mount: 10.2 x 6 cm (4 x 2 3/8"); Mat (New): 35.6 × 27.9 cm (14 × 11")

National Portrait Gallery

Topic: Interior; Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Beard; Photographic format\Carte-de-visite; Abraham Lincoln: Male; Abraham Lincoln: Law and Law Enforcement\Lawyer; Abraham Lincoln: Military\Soldier; Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\President of US; Abraham Lincoln: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Environmentalist; Abraham Lincoln: Business and Finance\Businessperson\Merchant; Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Illinois; Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government Official\Surveyor; Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\State Senator\Illinois; Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government Official\Postmaster; Abraham Lincoln: Crafts and Trades\Boat builder; Portrait

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm486bf4d40-d39c-47fa-ab72-39d8e8d0d992