Benjamin Silliman
Medium
Classification
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Accession Number
NPG.86.46
Tags
Art Historical Context
This evocative 1857 print portrait, *Benjamin Silliman* by Rudolf Hoffmann—an artist active in the 0s and 1850s—captures the distinguished likeness of a pioneering figure in American science.oused in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's National Portrait Gallery collection, the work exemplifies mid-19th-century printmaking, a medium that democratized portraiture by allowing wide dissemination through newspapers, books, and lectures. Hoffmann's precise rendering highlights Silliman's formal attire, including a tie and chain, authority and intellect. Benjamin Silliman emerges as a multifaceted...