The miniature portrait of Abraham Lincoln (right) was painted by Gerald S. Hayward, based on a photo taken in 1861. The Currier & Ives lithograph (left) depicts Lincoln as he appeared during the presidential election campaign in 1860.

On Sunday, January 13, 1861, president-elect Abraham Lincoln visited the photographic studio of C.S. German of Springfield, Illinois to have his picture taken. The resultant image was Lincoln’s first portrait with a full beard. The previous October, eleven-year-old Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York, had written Lincoln, suggesting that he grow some whiskers to improve his appearance; this, she believed, would make him more appealing to the ladies, who would then encourage their husbands to vote for him. Lincoln took her advice but not until after winning the election!

Many years later, the noted miniaturist artist Gerald S. Hayward (1845-1926) of Ontario, Canada, painted a lovely portrait in oil on ivory, based on the German photograph. It is one of many rare treasures on view at the Chicago History Museum in the exhibition Abraham Lincoln Transformed. The exhibition, which explores Lincoln’s changing views of slavery and race, remains open through April 12, 2010.

> Plan a visit to see Abraham Lincoln Transformed
> View more Abraham Lincoln Transformed highlights on Flickr
> Compare portraits of Lincoln on the Lincoln at 200 website

Tags: Abraham Lincoln Transformed, C.S. German, Gerald S. Hayward, Grace Bedell, Libby Mahoney, Olivia Mahoney, portrait

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Exhibitions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.