Charles P. Taft, brother of former U.S. President William Howard Taft, hoped to honor another former commander-in-chief but instead caused a controversy that found its way the halls of the U.K. Parliament. Taft commissioned American sculptor George Grey Barnard to sculpt an 11-foot-tall statue of Abraham Lincoln as a gift to the city of Cincinnati in 1917. But rather than basing his work on airbrushed photos and idealized paintings, Barnard sought out life masks of Lincoln’s face from before his presidency. This Lincoln has deep wrinkles penetrating his face, thick…
