Only two life masks exist of Lincoln – one was made in this Chicago artist’s studio in 1860

Leonard Volk’s Life Mask of Abraham Lincoln

Leonard Volk got his big break thanks to family ties. His wife’s cousin, Stephen Douglas, paid for his art studies in Rome back in 1855.

Then Douglas did him another favor – he introduced Volk to Abraham Lincoln during their famous 1858 debates. Two years later, Volk made history.

He coated Lincoln’s face with plaster for an hour to create a life mask, with Lincoln joking through the whole messy process.

After the Civil War, Volk helped start what later became the Art Institute of Chicago.

His monuments still stand at Rosehill Cemetery, where you can walk among his finest works and visit the sculptor’s own grave.

A Lucky Marriage Connected Volk to Political Royalty

Leonard Volk married Emily Clarissa King Barlow in 1852, a match that changed his career forever.

Emily was the cousin of Stephen A.Douglas, one of America’s most powerful politicians back then. Douglas liked his new relative right away and saw potential in Volk’s early sculpture work.

The well-connected senator became Volk’s supporter, opening doors that would have stayed closed to the struggling artist.

This family tie set up Volk’s later success with his famous Lincoln portraits and his rise in Chicago’s art world.

Rome Transformed a Marble Cutter into a Master Artist

Stephen Douglas paid to send Volk to Rome in 1855, giving the young sculptor a chance few American artists could get.

For two years, Volk walked the same streets as Michelangelo and Bernini, studying classical methods and Renaissance masterpieces up close.

He learned to turn stone into lifelike human forms and soaked up centuries of European art traditions. When Volk came back to America in 1857, he returned as a genuine fine artist with both vision and technical skills.

The Senate Debates Sparked an Artistic Opportunity

Volk opened his sculpture studio in Chicago in 1858, as the city grew into a major American hub. That same year, his supporter Stephen Douglas faced Abraham Lincoln in famous debates for an Illinois Senate seat.

Douglas introduced Volk to Lincoln during a chance meeting on a train between Chicago and Springfield.

Despite their political differences, Lincoln agreed to sit for a portrait bust when he had time. This casual meeting led to creating some of the most important artistic records of Lincoln ever made.

Lincoln Endured a Very Uncomfortable Hour for Art

In April 1860, Lincoln came to Chicago on legal business and kept his promise to visit Volk’s fifth-floor studio.

Volk talked Lincoln into sitting for a life mask, which meant covering his entire face with wet plaster for about an hour while it hardened.

Lincoln could barely breathe through two small nose holes and couldn’t move at all.

He later told Volk it was “anything but agreeable” but stayed good-humored throughout. The mask became one of only two life casts ever made of Lincoln.

The President’s Hands Showed Signs of Endless Handshaking

Just two days after Lincoln won the Republican nomination for president, Volk traveled to Springfield on May 20, 1860, to cast Lincoln’s hands in plaster.

The right hand gripped a piece of broomstick Volk quickly whittled down when he couldn’t find a proper prop.

Lincoln’s right hand looked noticeably swollen from shaking thousands of supporters’ hands after winning the nomination.

These hand casts, along with the life mask, became reference models for countless Lincoln sculptures and memorials created in later years.

Chicago Artists Found Their First Real Home

Volk gathered 35 local artists in 1866 to start the Chicago Academy of Design, giving the growing city its first professional art organization.

The Academy got its official charter in March 1867 and began classes the following year.

Volk based the school on the European academies he’d seen during his time in Rome, creating both free art education and gallery space for shows.

By 1870, the Academy had grown enough to build an impressive five-story stone building on West Adams Street.

His Mentor’s Death Led to His Biggest Commission

When Stephen Douglas died of typhoid fever in 1861, Volk lost not just his supporter but a family member.

Three years later, the Douglas Monument Association picked Volk’s design for a 96-foot granite memorial to honor the senator.

Construction started in 1866 on the elaborate tomb at Douglas’s Chicago estate. This project became Volk’s largest and most complex work.

The design featured an octagonal mausoleum base with bronze figures surrounding a tall column topped by a statue of Douglas himself.

The Great Chicago Fire Almost Erased His Greatest Work

Just as the Douglas monument was taking shape in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city.

The flames destroyed Volk’s original plans and drawings for the memorial, forcing him to recreate much of the design from memory.

Construction stopped as funding dried up, with most Chicago residents focused on rebuilding their homes and businesses.

The fire delayed the project by years, but Volk refused to abandon what he saw as his tribute to the man who had made his career possible.

Fallen Heroes Found Permanent Honor in Stone

While working on the Douglas monument, Volk created two other significant memorials at Chicago’s Rosehill Cemetery.

In 1864, he designed the Volunteer Firefighters’ Monument to honor those who died protecting the city.

Six years later, he completed “Our Heroes,” a thirty-foot limestone Civil War monument featuring a marble Union standard-bearer standing watch over the cemetery.

The base included bronze plaques showing soldiers and sailors from all four military branches: cavalry, infantry, artillery, and navy.

These works became gathering places for Memorial Day ceremonies for decades.

Fifteen Years of Work Finally Paid Off

After fifteen long years of setbacks and struggles, Volk finally completed the Douglas Monument in 1881. The total cost reached $90,000, paid through a mix of state funding and private donations.

A nine-foot bronze statue of Douglas now stood atop a 46-foot column, looking out over Lake Michigan from the site of his former estate.

The monument became Chicago’s most elaborate 19th-century memorial and stood as a testament to Volk’s artistic vision and determination.

When Volk died in 1895, he was buried at Rosehill Cemetery near his other monumental works, under a marker he designed himself.

Visiting Rosehill Cemetery, Illinois

Rosehill Cemetery at 5800 N Ravenswood Avenue is open Monday-Saturday 8am-5pm and Sunday 9am-4pm with free admission to the 350-acre grounds.

You can visit Leonard Volk’s gravesite where he designed his own monument. Check out the Gothic Revival entrance gate from 1864, designed by William Boyington.

The cemetery offers free guided walking tours on the second Saturday of each month through October at 10am.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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