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Abraham Lincoln
William Morris Hunt (American, 1824–1879)
1865
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
23.49 x 13.33 cm (9 1/4 x 5 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Miss Elizabeth S. Gregerson
Accession Number19.9
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsPaintings
This study for a portrait of Lincoln, destroyed in the Boston fire of 1872, was painted soon after Lincoln's assassination by John Wilkes Booth. The president's tragic death came less than a week after the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox made Union success seem assured. This study shows Lincoln with his head downcast, a martyr to the victory he did not live to see.
ProvenanceThe artist; James R. Gregerson, Boston, by 1894; to Miss Elizabeth S. Gregerson, by 1914; to MFA, 1919, bequest of Miss Elizabeth S. Gregerson.