Statue of Abraham Lincoln (San Francisco)

The bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln standing before San Francisco City Hall is a replacement for a much earlier monument that was lost in the nineteen-oh-six earthquake. The original statue by Pietro Mezzara held the distinction of being the first memorial ever erected to honor Lincoln in the United States, having been dedicated only a year after his assassination. When that initial work was destroyed in the fires following the earthquake, the city commissioned this current version by Armenian-American sculptor Haig Patigian, which was ultimately dedicated in nineteen twenty-eight. Unlike the more active, oratory pose of its predecessor, Patigian chose to depict the president in a seated, reflective posture, emphasizing a sense of grave and quiet leadership.