Portrait of Benjamin Franklin
1777
- Medium
- terracotta
- Dimensions
- 11.4 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-197324
Scholars debate whether Nini met Benjamin Franklin personally or based the nine versions of his portrait on drawings by artist Thomas Walpole (British, 1755-1840). In this particular cast, Nini presents Franklin with a fur hat, which may be an allusion to French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, suggesting a comparison between the inventor and the philosopher and their roles in revolutionary politics on both sides of the Atlantic. Nini copied Franklin's fur hat from a portrait of Rousseau by Allan Ramsay (Scottish, 1713-1784). The small crest below Franklin's left shoulder shows a bolt of li…
Provenance
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of James Parmelee, 1940.578
Registry history
- 1777 — Recorded in the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art — sculpture
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