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Artist
Unidentified Artist
Copy after
Mathew B. Brady, 1823? - 15 Jan 1896 (Photographer)
Sitter
Abraham Lincoln, 12 Feb 1809 - 15 Apr 1865
Date
1860
Type
Print
Medium
Wood engraving on paper
Dimensions
Image: 24 × 15.8cm (9 7/16 × 6 1/4")
Sheet: 40.6 × 28.7cm (16 × 11 5/16")
Mat: 55.9 × 40.6cm (22 × 16")
Topic
Illustration
Abraham Lincoln: Male
Abraham Lincoln: Law and Crime\Lawyer
Abraham Lincoln: Military and Intelligence\Soldier
Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\President of US
Abraham Lincoln: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Environmentalist
Abraham Lincoln: Business and Finance\Businessperson\Merchant
Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Illinois
Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government official\Surveyor
Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\State Senator\Illinois
Abraham Lincoln: Politics and Government\Government official\Postmaster
Abraham Lincoln: Crafts and Trades\Boat builder
Portrait
Place
United States\New York\Kings\New York
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.96.139
Exhibition Label
On May 26, 1860, the illustrated newspaper Harper’s Weekly presented its readers with a large-scale portrait of Abraham Lincoln, who had secured the Republican Party’s nomination for president only a week earlier. Newspapers at that time lacked the technology to publish photographic images. For this reason, Harper’s Weekly relied on one of its artists to produce an engraving of Lincoln—based on Mathew Brady’s photograph—that could be printed along with the paper’s text. The publication enjoyed a circulation estimated at 200,000 in 1860, ensuring that Lincoln’s portrait and its “PHOTOGRAPHED BY BRADY” credit line would reach a vast audience.
El 26 de mayo de 1860, el periódico ilustrado Harper’s Weekly publicó para sus lectores un retrato a gran escala de Abraham Lincoln, quien apenas una semana antes se había asegurado la nominación presidencial por el Partido Republicano. En aquella época los periódicos carecían de recursos tecnológicos para imprimir imágenes fotográficas. Por lo tanto, Harper’s Weekly recurrió a sus artistas para que produjeran un grabado de Lincoln (basado en la foto de Mathew Brady) que pudiera acompañar el texto del periódico. En 1860 la publicación tenía una circulación aproximada de 200,000, lo cual garantizó que el retrato de Lincoln y la línea de crédito “FOTOGRAFIADO POR BRADY” llegaran a un público amplio.
