Assassination of President Lincoln

Portraiture became part of the mourning process that followed Abraham Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865. In the ensuing months, print publishers furnished the image of Lincoln in all guises: attended at his deathbed by various statesmen, sitting serenely with his family, or grouped with previous American heroes or presidents. But first, a shocked nation had to grapple with the facts of his assassination and death. The lithograph of the scene at Ford's Theatre re-creates the event, with John Wilkes Booth leaping to the stage after shooting Lincoln. The black-bordered Memento Mori recalls many Americans' first grieving response: to drape funereal bunting, crepe, and flags on doors and windows, often tucking a portrait into the decorations.