Unveiling of the Standing Lincoln sculpture at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (photo by the National Park Service)

Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ Standing Lincoln sculpture (officially named Abraham Lincoln: the Man) was the first project he worked on during his initial stay in Cornish, New Hampshire, in the summer of 1885. It was commissioned a year earlier by the executors of the estate of Eli Bates, who left $40,000 in his will for a statue of Lincoln. The sculpture was installed in Chicago’s Lincoln Park in October 1887.

Original Standing Lincoln in Lincoln Park (photo by Andrew Home)

Saint-Gaudens was drawn to Cornish by his friend Charles Beaman, who promised the artist that there were plenty of “Lincoln-shaped men.” Saint-Gaudens hired local resident Langdon Morse as the body model and based the face on a life mask done of Lincoln in 1860 by Leonard Volk. Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, claimed that of all the Lincoln sculptures, Saint-Gaudens’ was the most accurate in appearance.

The Standing Lincoln sculpture was quite popular, and additional castings were created for Parliament Square in England; Parque Lincoln in Mexico City; the Civil War Memorial at Cambridge Common in Massachusetts; and Forest Lawn Cemetery in Hollywood Hills, California. The most recent full-size casting was done for Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park and was unveiled on June 26, 2016. In addition, many small versions of the sculpture have been cast for museums and private collectors.

While sculptors create the actual sculpture, the bases are usually designed and carved by other individuals. In the case of the Standing Lincoln, the base was designed by architect Stanford White, a frequent collaborator of Saint-Gaudens. White, a member of high society who was known for seducing young women, was murdered in 1906 by millionaire Harry Thaw over an earlier affair that White had with his wife, Evelyn Nesbit. Deemed the “Trial of the Century,” White’s character was torn to pieces by the press, while Thaw was largely seen as a defender of womanhood. The jury was deadlocked for the initial trial in 1907, and at the conclusion of a second trial in January 1908, Thaw was found not guilty on grounds of insanity and sentenced to life in a mental hospital until well. He was eventually deemed sane and released in 1915. Popular belief was that he paid off the right people. The murder was the subject of the 1955 film The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, which starred Joan Collins as Nesbit, Ray Milland as White, and Farley Granger as Thaw. Marilyn Monroe was originally cast as Nesbit, but was replaced over a contract dispute.

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