Benjamin
Franklin
by Joseph Siffred Duplessis
1778
original 72.4 x 58.4 cm
copy
70 x 55 cm
Two months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Franklin
was sent to France to seek economic and military assistance for the American
colonies' struggle against the British. He was already an international
celebrity and his simple dress and lack of a wig made a great impression
in intellectual circles.He was enthusiastically received by French progressive
society, who saw him as personifying the unpretentious nobility and enlightenment
of the New World. Diplomats, scientists, philosophers, and the most fashionable
ladies of the day eagerly sought his company, and his likeness soon appeared
everywhere from paintings and sculptures to snuffboxes and chamberpots.
Franklin was housed by Jacques Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, who commissioned a terra cotta medallion with a profile portrait of Franklin and this painted portrait from Duplessis, the foremost painter of the French upper-middle class. It was greatly admired when exhibited at the Salon of 1779. The original frame includes the attributes of Liberty, Peace, and Victory and is accompanied by the simple inscription VIR: the man.
Duplessis received numerous commissions for replicas, one of which is reproduced below.
Franklin was housed by Jacques Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, who commissioned a terra cotta medallion with a profile portrait of Franklin and this painted portrait from Duplessis, the foremost painter of the French upper-middle class. It was greatly admired when exhibited at the Salon of 1779. The original frame includes the attributes of Liberty, Peace, and Victory and is accompanied by the simple inscription VIR: the man.
Duplessis received numerous commissions for replicas, one of which is reproduced below.