42 x 32 in. (106.7 x 81.3 cm)
Framed: 51 1/4 x 41 in. (130.2 x 104.1 cm)
Accession Number
2004.099.000
Credit Line
Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
Object Details
Ned Bittenger’s Abraham Lincoln portrait addresses the challenge of depicting a famous face at an almost unrecognizably young age. Working from photographs contemporaneous with Lincoln’s House service (1847–1849) as well as historic images of the Chamber, the artist compromised between perfect accuracy and depicting a man not too far removed from the well-known, craggy visage of President Lincoln. The setting includes numerous details of the Chamber’s appearance in the 1840s, including the voluminous red drapery, the George Washington portrait, and the furniture designed by Thomas Constantine.
