This Presidents’ Day, a bust of Illinois’ favorite son Abraham Lincoln is returning to Springfield thanks to First Lady M.K. Pritzker.
The first lady is giving the beardless bust to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill. after buying it at an auction this month for $400,000.
Heritage Auction’s Curtis Lindner told WBBM before the event Chicago sculptor Leonard Volk gave the bust to Lincoln the day after he won the Republican nomination in May of 1860 and he displayed the parlor of his Springfield home.
Pritzker called the bust “iconic” and says it’s valuable for more than just the history it represents – but the future it inspires.
The first lady said President Lincoln’s vision for national unity amid poisonous and violent division rings true today more than any other time in her life.
The sculpture of a beardless Lincoln helped Lincoln portray strength and integrity to voters as well as countered criticism that he was homely and weak, Linder explained.