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Abraham Lincoln Monument

Sculptor: Augustus Saint-Gaudens and architect: Stanford White

Year Completed: 1887

Location: Lincoln Park at North Dearborn Parkway.

Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: December 12, 2001.

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The plaque reads:

“One of the oldest and most important public sculptures in Chicago, this monument to America’s sixteenth president influenced a generation of sculptors due to its innovative combination of a natural-looking Lincoln — depicted deep in thought as he is about to begin a speech — with a Classical-style architectural setting. It is the work of two nationally-important American designers and is widely considered to be the most significant nineteenth-century sculpture of Lincoln.

Designated on Dec 12, 2001
Richard M Daley, Mayor
Commission on Chicago Landmarks.”

 

“The two nationally renowned American designers“, mentioned in the plaque refers to:
Augustus Saint-Gaudens [Sculptor] , and.
Stanford White [Architect].

 

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I found some very interesting information on this sculpture in this website, “The Standing Lincoln”.. click here..
“Saint-Gaudens spent several years conceptualizing the statue, which he hoped would be his greatest work. He was the first sculptor to use the life mask of Lincoln and the casts of his hands made by Leonard Volk before Lincoln became president. A Vermont farmer of approximately Lincoln’s height served as the model for the statue. The figure of Lincoln portrays the sixteenth president with his left hand clutching at his coat’s lapel and his head bowed standing in front of his Chair of State. The chair, which features clawed legs and an American eagle on the back, was inspired by a cast of a seat from a Greek theater. The sculptor wanted the statue to be mounted on a suitable pedestal, and architect Stanford White designed the semicircular bench on which it stands.”

 

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Several phases from Lincoln’s speeches have been inscribed at the base of the monument ..

” Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on.”

 

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At the base of the Lincoln statue is inscribed …
“The gift of Eli Bates .”
Eli Bates, was a pioneer in the lumber business in Chicago.
He died in 1881 and in his will, he designated funds to create two sculptures:
A fountain, and
A statue of Abraham Lincoln ..
Both to be erected in the Lincoln Park.
Saint-Gaudens was commissioned as sculptor for both the Lincoln statue and the fountain.
Both of these sculptures were installed in 1887.

 

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Eli Bates Fountain / Also known as Storks at Play – By Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Installed: 1887.
Location Lincoln Park.

Standing Lincoln” and “Sitting Lincoln”
The above mentioned statue at the Lincoln Park Memorial is often called as the “Standing Lincoln”, to diffrentiate it from another famous statue of Lincoln in Grant Park called as “Sitting Lincoln”, and this is also by the same sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Sitting Lincoln is in the Grant Park.

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RELATED LINKS

Chicago, Public Art in Lincoln Park .. click here..
Chicago, Art by Location.. click here..

Chicago: Landmark Monuments and Sites.. click here..

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