Abraham Lincoln, 1865

In February of 1865, artist Matthew Wilson painted this portrait of President Abraham Lincoln. Wilson began the work based on photographs that he had requested Lincoln have taken by Alexander Gardner and then finished it with Lincoln at the White House. The portrait was commissioned by Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, who paid Wilson $85.00 with a check written on April 12, 1865. It is the last portrait of Lincoln painted from life.