Benjamin Franklin

1789

Jean-François Janinet

Associated Names
Jean-François Janinet

Artist, French, 1752 - 1814

Joseph Siffred Duplessis

Artist After, French, 1725 - 1802

The image depicts a portrait of a man from the chest up. He is positioned facing slightly to the left, with a direct, level gaze. The man has a distinguished face with a prominent forehead and a gentle expression. His hair is long and gray, curling slightly around the shoulders. He is wearing a red-brown coat with a fur-trimmed collar and a white cravat peeking from underneath. The background is a neutral dark tone, with an oval border framing the portrait against a lighter rectangle that fills the rest of the image. There is text below the image identifying the person as Benjamin Franklin, with additional text in a decorative script style.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    color etching and wash-manner engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Mrs. W. Murray Crane

  • Dimensions

    plate: 41 x 31.5 cm (16 1/8 x 12 3/8 in.)
    sheet: 46.5 x 33.3 cm (18 5/16 x 13 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1955.4.19

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Portalis/Beraldi 1880, no. 126

Artwork history & notes

Bibliography

1880

  • Portalis, baron Roger and Henri Beraldi. Les graveurs du dix-huitieme siecle. 2 parts, 3 vols. each part. Paris, 1880.

Inscriptions

recto: in plate, below image: F. Janinet sculp. 1789. / BENJAMIN / FRANKLIN. / Né à Boston le 17 Janvier 1706. / Avec Privil. du Roi. / A Paris chez Janinet rue haute Feuille, No. 5; verso: at bottom left in graphite in later hand: Pl. 30

Wikidata ID

Q65359883

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