The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery unveiled a life-size painting of President Abraham Lincoln Friday morning.
The 1865 portrait was painted by Dutch artist W.F.K. Travers and is one of three known life-size portraits of the president. It’s unclear if Lincoln sat for the painting, National Portrait Gallery historian Mindy Farmer said, but the museum intends to do more research.
“We do know it's from life and we do think that he sat for it, but we don't have a lot of information,” she said. “That's more of what we hope to uncover in the years that we'll have this.”
In the background is a bust of President George Washington, a copy of the 13th amendment, a globe showing Haiti, and Lincoln’s top hat and gloves draped on a chair, with one glove on the floor. Lincoln’s hand rests on the Constitution. Farmer says the symbolism in the painting references the struggles of his presidency, the issue of slavery, and other events that his life and legacy.
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“The story of conflict, the story of reunification, the story of dealing with this overarching struggle with enslaved people, it's all things we can tell through this portrait,” she said. “It tells – more than just being an amazing view of Lincoln – it's the story of American history.”
The oil painting is 9 feet tall, including the frame.
“Lincoln is 6’4”,” Farmer said. “With his top hat that he often wore, he would have been over 7 foot, and you get the sense of that size. So, you get the scale of the problems and the scale of the man.”
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The portrait is on loan for five years from the Hartley Dodge Foundation. Previously, it was hanging in the council chambers of Madison, New Jersey, and was restored two years ago.
The painting is on display in the Portrait Gallery’s “America’s Presidents” exhibit.
