This is the ugliest portrait of Abraham Lincoln that I have ever seen:
Yikes! Looks nothing like the manly-man on the penny, eh?
It might be the ugliest, but it's likely the most realistic. (The guy who drew this in 2001 used a series of photographs of Abe from the 1860's as his inspiration.)
Look how Lincoln's own friend described his appearance:
“He was not a pretty man by any means- nor was he an ugly one, he was a homely looking man. Mr. Lincoln’s head was long and tall, his forehead was narrow but high. His ears were extremely large and ran out at almost right angles from his head. His hair was dark - almost black and lay floating where fingers or the winds left it, piled up at random. His cheek bones were high- sharp and prominent. His nose was large, long and blunt and a little awry toward the right eye. His eye brows, heavy and jutting out, cropped out like a huge rock on the brow of a hill. His face was long- sallow, cadaverous, shrunk, shriveled, wrinkled and dry. His cheeks were leathery and flabby, falling in loose folds at places, looking sorrowful and sad.”
Having just finished reading the book "Killing Lincoln", finding this portrait had special meaning, as it brought to life what I just read.
Lincoln faced so much stress and suffering during his Presidency, especially the last 18 months as Civil War casualties were piling up and up and up.
This portrait brings all of Lincoln's toils into a visual reality.
Wow.
Read more about the piece of art:
Out for now.....
Matt