Lincoln's Deathbed
In Art and Memory: The "Rubber Room" Phenomenon
by Harold Holzer and Frank J. Williams
Lincoln's Deathbed
In Art and Memory:
Lincoln's Deathbed In Art and Memory:
The "Rubber Room" Phenomenon,
by Harold Holzer and Frank J. Williams, is an in-depth look at
the efforts to portray the scene at the Peterson House in Washington,
D.C. on the morning of April 15, 1865. Through engaging narrative
and numerous illustrations, the authors demonstrate the transformation
of an event that was, by necessity, confined to a very small number
of witnesses into a happening of heroic proportions.
While the actual room in which Lincoln died was a mere 9-1/2 feet
by 17 feet, posterity would dictate that physical representations
of the event include the visages of many of the dignitaries who
visited the bedside vigil at some point during the long deathwatch.
Print makers and artists were called upon to create visual images
of the sad event to satisfy the curiosity of the public at large.
In their efforts to include the liknesses of all the important
people of the day, the artists created works that were in fact
quite out of proportion with reality. Some artists went so far
as to include in the portraits people who had not visited the
dying President's bedside. Some prints even portray young Tad
Lincoln as being present, when in fact he spent the long night
back at the White House.
At a time when the visual arts of prints and print making was
finding mass appeal, each succeeding artist would try and make
his print more grand than the one before. The first print to be
marketed, issued by Currier & Ives, was a rather crude affair,
with twelve eyewitnesses depicted (which immediately stretched
the credulity of the number of adults who could in fact fit into
the small room). The next print showed sixteen witnesses; the
following, eighteen, and so on until you come upon the painting
by Alonzo Chapel, which pictures no less than forty-seven men
and women.
Of course, in reality, as the number of dignitaries depicted grew,
physics became a problem. There was simply no way that so many
people could be packed into a room so small. Therefore, artists
saw fit to "stretch" the size of the room. It began
to be represented as an ever larger room. Eventually it took on
a sort of dimensionless qualitybecoming a mere background that
conformed to whatever shape was required to feature all the individuals
to be included. This phenomenon was labeled the "rubber room"
by assassination historian Lesley Leonard.
I found it interesting to see how each artist or print maker would
portray a fairly static scene. All had the same basic components
to work with: a depiction of the mortally wounded Lincoln lying
on a bed, surround be his friends, family, and associates. And
yet each print maker, generally, was able to make his creation
unique. And that uniqueness often took the form of more bodies
being stuffed into that ever-expanding room.
And the culmination of the death scene artwork is the grand painting
by Alonzo Chappel. Chappel was so intent on capturing lifelike
depictions of those who were to appear in his masterpiece that
he convinced a number of the central figures to be photographed
in the actual poses the artist had devised for his painting. Among
those who agreed to be photographed was Robert Todd Lincoln, the
president's son. This was quite out of character for Robert, who
generally shied away from pubic displays of such personal moments.
Robert Lincoln was photographed as he appeared in the finished
portrait, somberly gazing downward with a handkerchief in his
hand. Vice President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton,
and Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch were among the others
who also posed for a photograph for Chappel. The photos can now
be found at the Chicago Historical Society, while the huge (52
by 89-1/2 inch) painting resides at Brown University.
Holzer and Williams succeed in providing an entertaining narrative
of the efforts portray a somber event. The artists, it seems,
knew no limits to the plausibility of just how many people were
attendant at Lincoln's passing. A Foreword by Dwight T. Pitcaithley
places the story of the artists and printmakers into a historical
context. A very informative Afterword by Gary Scott details the
National Park Service's efforts to restore the Peterson House.
Lincoln's Deathbed In Art and Memory: The "Rubber Room"
Phenomenon is a worthy addition to any library on the assassination
of Abraham Lincoln.
Available from:
Gettysburg Publications
P.O. Box 3031
Gettysburg, PA 17325
