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Abraham Lincoln and Family
Domestic life went on for Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) even as he led the Union during the Civil War as president and commander-in-chief. Lincoln always sought refuge in his marriage and his family, but that refuge was frequently hard to attain. This group portrait of the Lincolns is poignant because it includes, seated to the right, the figure of Willie (1850-1862), whose death early in Lincoln's presidency devastated the president and his wife Mary (1818-1882). The Lincolns' eldest son, Robert (1843-1926), a student at Harvard, stand to the right; Lincoln resisted his son's attempts to join the army, fearing for his safety. Artist Henry Atwell Thomas adapted the central image of Lincoln tutoring his son Tad (1853-1871) from a photography by Alexander Gardner.
Henry Atwell Thomas, after Anthony Berger, 1865 |