author
F. B. (Francis Bicknell) Carpenter
1830–1900
Best known for creating the famous painting of Abraham Lincoln’s first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, this 19th-century American artist turned a defining moment in U.S. history into one of its most familiar images. He was a portrait painter with a gift for linking art and public memory.
1 Audiobook
The inner life of Abraham Lincoln : Six months at the White House
by F. B. (Francis Bicknell) Carpenter
About the author
Born in Homer, New York, in 1830, Francis Bicknell Carpenter built his reputation as an American portrait painter. He gained national attention after painting First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, the large historical work now associated most strongly with his name.
That painting grew out of an unusual opportunity: Carpenter spent months at the White House in 1864 while working on the scene, observing Lincoln and gathering studies from life. The result helped fix the look of Lincoln and his cabinet in the public imagination and remains Carpenter’s most enduring contribution to American art.
Carpenter later wrote about the experience in Six Months at the White House with Abraham Lincoln, a firsthand account that adds to his importance not just as a painter but as a witness to a crucial period in U.S. history. He died in 1900, but his work still stands at the intersection of portraiture, politics, and historical storytelling.