Abraham Lincoln (French 1920)

Abraham Lincoln
Artist	Daniel Chester French
Year	1920
Type	Georgia marble (Murphy Marble)
Location	Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., United States

Abraham Lincoln (1920) is a colossal seated figure of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) sculpted by Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers. It is situated in the Lincoln Memorial (constructed 1914–22), on the National Mall, Washington, D.C., USA, and was unveiled in 1922. Stylistically, the work follows in the Beaux Arts and American Renaissance traditions.

The 170-ton statue is composed of 28 blocks of white Georgia marble (Georgia Marble Company) and rises 30 feet (9.1 m) from the floor, including the 19-foot (5.8 m) seated figure (with armchair and footrest) upon an 11-foot (3.4 m) high pedestal. The figure of Lincoln gazes directly ahead and slightly down with an expression of gravity and solemnity. His frock coat is unbuttoned, and a large United States flag is draped over the chair back and sides. French paid special attention to Lincoln's expressive hands, which rest on the enormous arms of a circular, ceremonial chair, the fronts of which bear fasces, emblems of authority from Roman antiquity. French used casts of his own fingers to achieve the correct placement.

Daniel Chester French was selected in 1914 by the Lincoln Memorial Committee to create a Lincoln statue as part of the memorial to be designed by architect Henry Bacon (1866–1924). French was already famous for his Minute Man (1884) statue in Concord, Massachusetts. He was also the personal choice of Bacon who had already been collaborating with him for nearly 25 years. French resigned his chairmanship of the Fine Arts Commission in Washington, D.C.—a group closely affiliated with the memorial's design and creation—and commenced work in December.

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