

| Date : 1778
Material : Oil on canvas Acquisition : Bequest of Michael Friedsam (1931)
| Item 5 on 23 French Painting Painting
Area related France
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 | Description |  |
When Franklin arrived in France in the autumn of 1776 to negociate for aid and an alliance, he was already an international celibrity. His simple dress and lack of a wig made a great impression in intellectual circles. 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, which was exhibited in the Salon of 1779. The original frame inclides the attributes of Liberty, Peace and Victory and is accompanied by the simple inscription VIR : the man.
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