Sexy Abraham Lincoln Statue?

In the last few years, I've had a lot of interest in the story of the Abraham Lincoln statue in Lyle Park, downtown .Cincinnati. What especially has intrigued me about it are the various controversies around it, starting from the commissioning of the project through the unveiling of the finished work and the idea of sending a copy to London. A lot of people, especially Robert Lincoln, thought this statue to be ugly, undignified, and even inappropriate as an image of the former President. Some people liked it, but many did not.

Author's picture, Lytle Park

In this link I have posted some other pictures I took of this monument as well as a link to my previous stories about it. I also gave a presentation to a local group about this issue, covering the same material.

Recently, and thanks to social media, I saw an article about a different Lincoln statue, a "sexy" or "hot" Lincoln. This is certainly different, especially the reactions mentioned in this story from near Chicago. The statue is over 70 years old, but apparently this view of the attractiveness of it is fairly new.

I have, of course, not seen the statue in person, but from what I've seen in the few pictures in the article, I'm not impressed. It does not look much like Lincoln to me at first glance, similar to some of the reactions in the story. It uses the young and beardless version of Lincoln as is seen in Cincinnati, but not the same pose or overall image.

The face looks too smooth, even for the younger man, and even too shiny, though that may be a photography issue. The hair somehow seems wrong as well. The shirt being open until the middle of his chest also looks inappropriate, though I admit I'm no expert on the fashion trends of the day, especially for someone doing farmwork. Maybe he wore clothes like that, including the rolled-up sleeves, to be cooler while he rested. The sleeves seem more reasonable to me than the open shirt.

He also appears to have a slight smile or smirk on his face, which photographs at the time did not use, but as the statue was designed to show him resting after doing work, who is to say that is not accurate? He probably was happy to sit down and pick up a book, though the look on his face is not familiar to us. The bare feet are a nice touch and seem realistic.

Ironically, the statue in Cincinnati became mockingly known as the "stomach ache statue" because the artist George Barnard Grey had placed Lincoln's hands over his abdomen, leading some viewers to believe Lincoln looked ill. On this statue, the hands at first appear to be in a similar position, but the seated pose and the book he is holding makes that less apparent.

His clothing is also much less wrinkled than in the Cincinnati statue and I do wonder if they would look so nice after a few hours of work outside.

I don't mean to criticize the statue too much, especially just judging by a few photographs. It is different than others and is not unrealistic, though I still find the face and head to be barely recognizable as Lincoln. I'm not sure I can explain it, but that part just seems to be wrong. The side angle picture in the article is especially noteworthy to me as it appears to be any man, not specifically Lincoln.

From the linked story at dnainfo.com

From eBay 

Perhaps the statue is fine and the issue is my own personal image of Lincoln. As asked in my previous stories, who owns his memory or determines his image - the artist, the audience, or someone else? Is it just "beauty/image is in the eye of the beholder?" This is just another example of how different people produce different images or have varying memories of a historical figure, even someone as famous and as photographed as Lincoln was. Maybe the lack of photographs from Lincoln's youth affects this, though there are images of the unbearded man that help us see his pre-presidential looks. With that said, I just do not see a good image of Lincoln in this statue, especially the facial features. For this beholder, the beauty is simply not there.

My day on "The Lincoln Trail"

One week ago today, I began the day by visiting the Civil War Museum in Bardstown, as a previous entry mentioned, and then took a trip to My Old Kentucky Home.

After that, began my tour of what I called the "Lincoln Trail" by heading towards the town of Hodgenville, planning to stop at Knob Creek, the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln from age 2 through age 7. I arrived there and was pleased by what I saw. It is not a fancy park, just an open field next to a creek, with a sample of a garden like the Lincoln's may have grown on the same spot. Its simplicity and natural beauty made it a fine place to stop, as I even got a chance to walk by the banks of the creek, seeing minnows and crawdads swimming in the same waterway where Lincoln may have played some as a young boy.

Here are a couple pictures from this stop, the first of the field and the second of the creek.

That was an enjoyable stop, but after a few minutes of soaking in the scene and realizing that Lincoln had walked these very grounds, I jumped back into the car and headed down the road to visit the national park at his birth site.

A funny thing happened on the way, however. While on the road, I came into the actual town of Hodgenville and was greeted by a view I had seen online but not before in person

This statue, even more impressive in person than by photo (and the sculpture of Lincoln as a young boy at the other end of this area, from behind where I took this photo) really caught my attention, and then brought my eyes to a building that had "Lincoln Museum" on the outside. After a brief moment of pause, wondering if I should momentarily forget my goal of going to the place of his birth to see this museum I had never seen, I came to my senses and pulled into a parking spot right outside its door.


This Lincoln Museum really impressed me. The use of mannequins (for lack of a better term) and painted scenes (perhaps dioramas is the proper word) to show several important moments of Lincoln's life really caught my attention. I must admit that not all the figures looked like the President, especially seeming to miss some of the lines in his face, but that mattered not at all. Each scene was really neat, and a couple really were almost even stunning in the effect they had on me, especially the last one showing the President and his wife sitting in Ford's Theater. I stared at that particular scene for quite a while and did not want to leave. Had they thought to put a figure of Booth coming in the door, that may have floored me right there. It really struck me in the gut to see that scene and think about what the near future held.

Their  other exhibits, of Lincoln items and of items from his period, are also neat, and they have a large display of Lincoln related art as well.

I really had not heard of this museum before, but highly recommend it to anyone who travels to this area. It is simply wonderful.

After getting the lumps in my throat from that scene finally out, I headed back to the road and made the three mile trip to the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site. Unfortunately for me, construction is taking place on the memorial building that houses the reproduction of the Lincoln cabin, so I could not enter it or enjoy walking the 56 steps up to it (see the picture below) but the park museum has a nice display and it was still worth the trip to be on the very land where such a great man was born. It was the last stop I made on my 2 day "vacation" last week and it was an appropriate place to end such a fun couple of days. That land is truly hallowed ground.

Central and Western Kentucky has a surprising amount of Civil War related historical sites and stops, and I did not even see them all, but for a quick trip and late spring vacation, I certainly picked some great places to visit and with the luck of good weather on my side had a wonderful time at each one that I've described here. If anyone reading this is ever in that area, please take advantage of any time you may have and visit one or more of these fantastic sites.