Benjamin Franklin
(18th and 19th Centuries )
This standing figure of Benjamin Franklin is holding a scroll and has a gilded base. The figure is a model of 1793. In the late 18th century Benjamin Franklin was a popular celebrity, especially in France. This resulted in a demand for his likeness that was met by a host of images in various materials and sizes - from costly marble to cheap prints. The Museum also has in its collection a version in plaster which was part of the original bequest from Henry Walters in 1931.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Dr. and Mrs. Henry Barton Jacobs, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Jacobs Sale, Baltimore, December 10, 1940, no. 366; Walters Art Museum, 1940, by purchase.
Exhibitions
2006 | The Princess and the Patriot: Ekaterina Dashkova, Benjamin Franklin, and the Age of Enlightenment. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia. |
1990-1991 | Maryland: First Catholic Colony. Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore. |
1976 | Maryland Heritage: European Art at the Time of the Revolution. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
1951 | The French in America. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit. |
1950 | The Eighteenth Century Art of France and England. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montréal. |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm)
Credit Line
Museum puchase, 1940
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
27.499