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The Martyr of Liberty
- Creator:
- unknown
- Location:
- unknown place made
- Origin Date:
- 1865-1870
- Materials:
- paper, pastel
- Measurements:
- overall: 16 in x 11 1/2 in
- Item ID:
- 71.2009.081.0600
- Holding Institution:
- Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum
- Available for Viewing:
- No
- Category:
- Fine Art
Description
This hand-colored lithograph depicts the artist's idea of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in the president's box of Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865. President Lincoln (center), Mrs. Lincoln, Clara Harris (behind her), and Henry Rathbone (viewer's left) are pictured seated behind the balcony railing. John Wilkes Booth is shown standing behind Lincoln's chair firing his pistol at Lincoln's head while he was leaning on the railing. Below the image is printed "THE MARTYR OF LIBERTY" and a four-line verse which is only partially legible due to a missing piece of the paper. It reads: "Hath borne his faculties so meek; has [. . .] / So clear in his great office; that his [. . .] / Shall plead, trumped-tongued, again[. . .] / The deep damnation of his taking [. . .] Part of the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, courtesy of the Indiana State Museum
