Benjamin Franklin

Art Historical Context

This 1787 mezzotint by Charles Willson Peale captures Benjamin Franklin in a dignified bust-length portrait that reflects the statesman’s enduring role as a symbol of American independence. Created just months after the Constitutional Convention, the print appeared at a moment when Franklin’s image circulated widely to celebrate the new nation’s founding ideals. Peale, a leading American artist of the Revolutionary era, had painted Franklin from life on several occasions; this print likely reproduces one of those painted likenesses for broader distribution. Mezzotint was prized in the eighteenth century for its velvety blacks and subtle tonal gradations, qualities that allowed printmakers to suggest the rich textures of velvet, fur, and aged skin. Printed on tan paper and trimmed to the plate, the small sheet (roughly postcard size) was designed for intimate viewing—perhaps in albums, frames, or as a frontispiece in books. Today in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection, the work reminds visitors how Peale’s portraits helped shape a visual language of American leadership that still resonates.

About the Artist

Charles Willson Peale|Benjamin Franklin · 1741–1827

Charles Willson Peale (1741–1827) was an American painter, museum founder, naturalist, and inventor who became the most important American portraitist of the Revolutionary era and a central figure in the cultural life of the young republic. Born in Queen Anne's County, Maryland, he initially trained as a saddler before turning to painting, studying briefly with John Singleton Copley in Boston and ...