...Benjamin Franklin by Michael Rysbrack-spread

Katharine Eustace
ii

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
vi
BIOGRAPHY OF KATHARINE EUSTACE
viii
INTRODUCTION
A Free Man: Benjamin Franklin by Michael Rysbrack
1
CATALOGUE
The Highly Important Marble Bust of Benjamin Franklin: A National
Treasure Unveiled
11
APPENDIX
61
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
67
iv

v

I am most grateful to the eno brothers an their teams for initing me to ontribute to
this publiation an for the in-epth researh arrie out by them most partiularly
eslie among Franklins papers on the other sie of the Atlanti an to Aleaner aer
an hristopher Mason of othebys onon ho introue
vi

vii

Aer training at the itoria an Albert Museum atharine ustae FA has spent
years orking in British museums In the ehibition Michael Rysbrack Sculptor 1694-
1770 at the ity of Bristol Museum an Art allery broke ne groun in sulpture stuies
an ehibition presentation as i Canova: Ideal Heads at the Ashmolean Museum
for in he as itor of the Sculpture Journal for ten years from to
he publishes an letures iely on British sulpture from to present
viii

One cannot but consider the meaning of the Middle English word ‘frankelin’: freeman, free-born, a free holder. It comes
from the French, meaning both the tribe of the Franks, and ‘honest’, ‘liberal’ or ‘generous’, but later also, suitably in this
ontet it beame assoiate ith taation Here e hae a portrait of a self-mae man eeply onsious of his roots ho
had ome to onon to represent his people on the serious an iisie issue of taation
hen this bust of Benjamin Franklin rst appeare on the market ithout any real proenane at hristies in onon in
1986, it caused a great deal of interest and a certain amount of anxiety: could it be Franklin? 1 as it really by ysbrak en
the fat that it as signe an insribe ith the siers name as hel against it—although I for one as neer in oubt
Thirty years later, studies in eighteenth-entury British sulpture hae eole by leaps an bouns an it is no rmly
establishe that insribe an signe busts ere far from unommon in the eighteenth entury partiularly hen ealing
with men famous among famous men. 2 ysbraks on signe an insribe bust of the poet an satirist Aleaner ope for
eample ha been ommissione by the arhitet ames ibbs in 3 as a ompanion to his on portrait bust by
ysbrak no in the itoria Albert Museum onon 4
1 hristies onon April lot
2 Malcolm Baker, Fame and Friendship: Pope, Roubiliac and the Portrait Bust ehib at ale enter for British Art Ne Haen February – 19 May
an aeson Manor Bukinghamshire une - tober othshil Founation
3 ol by riate Treaty ale through hristies onon an purhase by the National ortrait allery onon through the National Heritage
Memorial Fun in aession no N ibi at no
4 Margaret Webb, Michael Rysbrack Sculptor onon ountry ife p g p Margaret hinney Sculpture in Britain 1530-1830,
Harmonsorth enguin Books plB atharine ustae et al Michael Rysbrack, Sculptor 1694-1770 ehib at Bristol ity Art allery
1982, cat. no. 10.
1

Fig. 1: Andrea Soldi (1703–1771), Italian, active in Britain from about 1736, Michael Rysbrack Modelling His Terra-Cotta Statue of Hercules,
1753. Oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection (B1976.7.75)
2

Since the latest sale of this monumental and superbly carved bust of Benjamin Franklin at Sotheby’s in London in 2014, 5 a
ahe of leers in the Amerian hilosophial oiety hilaelphia has been stuie in epth an has been foun to proie
eiting oumentation relating to the bust 6 Furthermore the leers proie a proenane into the s that links the
likeness ith one of the most important portrait reors of the ar of Inepenene the unnishe American
Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain g painte by the Amerian-born Benjamin
est ho later as presient of the oyal Aaemy as knighte by eorge III
The bust of Franklin presents a man in the mid-eighteenth-century manner known as en négligé, that is to say, in indoor
ress ith his hair unresse In later life this oul beome most harateristi of Franklins appearane The bust reeals
an energeti yet resolute an etermine harater in the prime of life hen at the age of he ame to onon for the
seon time Franklin ha been a simmer from a young age—a rarity in the eighteenth entury—who consistently
promote the healthful benets of simming an in this presentation of him one oul easily imagine that he has just ome
in aer a ip in the ier Thames as it oe past at the en of raen treet en ithout knoing the name of the sier,
it oul be a magnient ork of portraiture but the fat that it is Benjamin Franklin gies us a ibrant energeti ne image
of this great man
The reation of likenesses as here Mihael ysbrak eelle as a portrait sulptor eorge ertue the antiuarian an
engraer note on ysbraks arrial in onon in that his moels in lay are ery eellent shos him to be a
great Master tho’ young g
ysbrak moele his portrait busts in lay before eeuting them in marble In
ertue elare that ysbraks superior merit to other ulptors is ery apparent in his Moells of portraits – from the life
none eualiing for truth of ikeness an property of ornaments or hea-ress 9 This was an aspect of Rysbrack’s work in
hih ertue oul as a professional engraer of portraits hae ha a partiular an knolegeable interest
It was Rysbrack’s virtuosity that established the portrait bust as superior to the contemporary painted portrait, and, as contemporaries
noted, made three-imensional portraits the more fashionably esirable This opportunity may ell hae
5 othebys onon MAT T F AT uly lot
6 Benjamin est to Benjamin Franklin April BF ames Huon to Benjamin Franklin May BFba ames Huon to
Benjamin Franklin Marh BF I Amerian hilosophial oiety hilaelphia
Anre tokley Britain and France at the Birth of America: The European Powers and the Peace Negotiations of 1782-1783 onon niersity of
eter ress p Note: The oial title of the painting is American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain
That name is misleaing as the as the ork as to inlue the elegations from both sies Hoeer the British representatives refused to sit for
Benjamin est
eorge ertue Notebooks Walpole Society, Oxford 1930- eprint ol I p uote in atharine ustae No ain man in ustae
et al pp-
9 Ibi ol III p
3

Fig. 2: Michael Rysbrack, John Locke, 1754-8. Marble. Library Staircase, Christ Church College, Oxford. (from Malcom Baker, The Marble
Index: Roubiliac and Sculptural Portraiture in Eighteenth-Century Britain, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2014, p. 120)
4

It was Rysbrack’s virtuosity that established the portrait bust as superior to the contemporary painted portrait, and, as
contemporaries noted, made three-dimensional portraits the more fashionably desirable. This opportunity may well have
arate other sulptors to onon among them ouis-Franois oubilia It ertainly hallenge illiam Hogarth to
emulate and recapture for painters the market for likenesses. 10 In the 1740s, Rysbrack was commissioned to model a
number of portraits of hilren among them those of ohn Barnar an ar alter These ehibit an een greater
naturalism, if that were possible, one that is self-eiently present in the bust of Franklin It shos no iminution in the
sulptors tehniue an inention rather perhaps uner the inuene an in the ompany of the great man the sulptor
has introduced a new, less solemn aspect to his repertoire.
This bust an only hae been eeute uring Franklins isit to onon beteen an late in ysbraks most
suessful areer By the time of Franklins thir sojourn in onon from ysbrak as in retirement an his inreasing
ill-health ha le to his isposing of most of the ontents of his stuio or orkshop in a series of sales from A late ork
was the posthumous statue of the seventeenth-entury philosopher ohn oke ommissione for the Ne ibrary at hrist
hurh ollege for in but not omplete until The sulptor oul hae been orking on this laer-day
baroue saint of the seular orl hen Franklin arrie in nglan okes politial philosophy base as it as on
empiriism as highly inuential among the founing fathers of the nite tates of Ameria an one might haar that
okes ieas ere a rih soure for onersation beteen the sulptor an his sier
10
atharine ustae The key is oke: Hogarth ysbrak an the Founling Hospital British Art ournal Autumn pp -
5

Fig. 3: Michael Rysbrack, William III, 1733, Bronze, Queens Square, Bristol
6

arate other sulptors to onon among them ouis-Franois oubilia It ertainly hallenge illiam Hogarth to emu
late an reapture for painters the market for likenesses x In the s ysbrak as ommissione to moel a number of
portraits of hilren among them those of ohn Barnar an ar alter These ehibit if possible an een greater natu
ralism one that is self-eiently present in the bust of Franklin It shos no iminution in the sulptors tehniue an inen
tion rather uner the inuene an in the ompany of the great man the sulptor has introue a ne less solemn aspet
to his repertoire ne annot but onsier the meaning of frankelin in Mile nglish: freeman free-born a free holer
philosopher ohn oke
erhaps it as their mutual feeling for oke that inspire the making of the bust of Franklin to hih might be ae the
likelihoo that on his tour to ton Northamptonshire in to see the graes of his forebears Franklin sa in the parish
hurh ysbraks nishe marble of another seenteenth-entury iine an natural philosopher the eeren ohn
almer Appeni A ne may at the ery least surmise reiproity of interest a rapport beteen sier an artist hih is
an essential ingreient for a suessful portrait Both men ere lubbable that is to say gregarious an goo ompany both
ere joiners an both learly alue frienship highly
Benjamin Franklins is one of ysbraks most eiting portrait busts: of one of the greatest of human beings by one of
uropes greatest sulptors Both are orthy of the other in this outstaning ork or as the anonymous riter in the Free
Briton in ha sai of ysbraks monument to the uke of Marlborough at Blenheim an the euestrian statue of
illiam III at Bristol g :
No Hand can give the Expression of a Hero to any Figure, unless he is blest with Genius to conceive
the eality of eroism There must e the true Sulime in the Artists magination otherwise he
will never reach or describe the Sublime of such an elevated character.
ne might onlue ith the same author in respet of ysbraks bust of Benjamin Franklin some thirty years later that:
It is a Work of Genius an ill o Honour to this Nation
The Free Briton no August uote in MH iersige ysbraks eputation an ritial Fortunes in atharine ustae et al
Michael Rysbrack, Sculptor 1694-1770 ehib at Bristol ity Art allery p
7

Fig. 4: William Kent and Michael Rysbrack, Monument to John Churchill, 1 st Duke of Marlborough, 1732. Marble. Blenheim Palace,
Oxfordshire
(photo ©jacquemart)
8

MICHAEL RYSBRACK (1694-1770)
London, England, 1758-1762
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790)
Carrera Marble; H: 23 3/16 in, 59 cm W: 20 in, 50 4/5 cm D: 8 3/4 in, 22 1/4 cm
Depicted three-quarter size, from waist up
Signed and inscribed on en verso: Benjamin Franklin / Michael Rysbrack Sculp t
Provenance:
A priate olletion Nonghamshire nglan
by gi to atrik raley Felikirk orkshire nglan;
ere at hristies onon April lot
riate treaty sale from atrik raley through hristies
riate olletion nglan;
Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art othebys onon uly lot
Literature:
atharine ustae ysbrak ohn Mihael - ford ictionary of
National Biography for niersity ress
raham Heathote Nely isoere Bust of Ben Franklin pete to Feth
Associated Press, February
ita eif Autions New York Times February
Ingri osoe mma Hary an M ullian A Biographical ictionary of Sculp
tors in Britain 1660-1851 Ne Haen an onon: ale niersity ress p
no The entry ienties this bust as isoere in Felikirk Thirsk
orkshire
Lita Solis-ohen lest Franklin Bust to be ol in onon Philadelphia Inquirer,
February
Lita Solis -Cohen, ‘Collectors of Americana Shop in London aine Antiues igest
September 2014
Tom Powel Imaging
9

10

It oul be iult to oerestimate the signiane of the present euisitely-are life-sie portrait bust of Benjamin
Franklin by the great sulptor Mihael ysbrak from the en of the s or early s The ubiuity an persistene of
Franklins image in the ity of hilaelphia here he rose to fame is unerstanable but hat is truly remarkable an
possibly unpreeente as the breath of his fame an reognition aross the globe:
‘...He remains a powerful symbol of self-realiation and as one of this Countrys founding fathers of
our struggle for independence which was rought to triumphant conclusion with his signing of the
Treaty of Paris in Septemer of 1783 formally maring the end of the eolutionary War 1
It is etraorinary that a portrait bust of one of humanitys most famous men by one of the greatest artists in eighteenth
entury nglan shoul hae eiste in obsurity until no 2 harles ellers ho eote ten years of researh into the
ionography of Benjamin Franklin an hose aount as until reently taken as enitie epresse his frustration in
that ery fe images eist of Franklin uring the eaes he spent in nglan
t is profoundly signicant that in an age intensely interested in the characters of its great men not one
contemporary has le us a complete and adeuate description of Franlins appearance Apparently
there was something in the ig mouth and friendly eyes lighted always y humor and understanding
which drew you immediately into the world of his learning his wisdom and his feeling f you came as
many did to gae with awe upon the great man this oectie atude would e uicly dispelled y
his warm acceptance of you and his readiness to share all his interests with you ou met the man him
self ou came away with the friendliest admiration ut only a secondary impression of personal ap
pearance 2
As ellers note e kno that in young manhoo he Franklin stoo an inh or to short of a full si feet as heay-set an
musular His eyes ere hael but seeme grey in some lights His peuliarly ie mouth ha in it muh strength an a enial
of any aintiness his hair as ark bron 3
1
Timothy Rub, Director, Philadelphia Museum of Art, quoted in forward of Jack Hinton, Melissa Meighan and Andrew Lins, Encountering Genius: Houdon’s Portraits of
Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Yale University Press, New Haven, 2011, p. 6.
2
‘There is no mention of the Rysbrack sculpture in Franklins letters, nor was it known to Charles Coleman Sellers when he wrote Benjamin Franklin in Portraiture, published
by Yale in 1962’. Stated in Lita Solis Cohen, ‘Oldest Franklin Bust to be Sold in London’, Philadelphia Inquirer, 15 February 1986.
3
Charles C. Sellers, Benjamin Franklin in Portraiture, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1962, p. 2.
11

More recently, historian Jack Hinton put it that the bust by Jean Antoine Houdon of 1778, 4 an the portrait by oseph ire
uplessis hae been regare as authoritatie likenesses gs 5 He ontinue it is also the ase that Scholars have
simultaneous an ontraitory reations to the features—they see an air of benevolence, good humor, and sagacity, while at
the same time they note that the sier appears jae apprehensie an een mishieous 6
The bust of Franklin by Rysbrack shos a younger man an unlike Houons as almost ertainly one from life Franklin has
an alertness of pose that immeiately engages the ieer e enounter a irile Franklin ith his hea turne an boy
leaning slightly forar to suggest moement As the sulpture historian Malolm Baker has reently rien by eploiting the
potential of the informal bust to heighten the animation of the person portraye an so suggest a momentary enounter
the sulptor hanges epetations of ho that spetator might enter into the tion of oming fae to fae ith the sier 7
This is ertainly true of ysbraks bust of Franklin muh more so than as he appeare in later beer-knon eamples
Rysbrack presents Franklin informally, without a wig, in an open-neke shirt an unbuone aistoat This type of
presentation fashionable in nglan in the eighteenth entury oneye the siers status as a ultiate intelletual an man
of siene an leers This relae appearane oul hae appeale to the famously informal Franklin Numerous
omparisons an be mae ithin the sulptors ier oeuvre in epitions of other prominent gures of the perio there is
for eample a parallel in ysbraks portrait bust of Aleaner ope Appeni B ysbraks Franklin uts a more ynami
gure than the arhetypal image knon from later portraits in hih he appears alm an sage-like In ysbraks
interpretation the ieer is presente ith the igorously atie Franklin before he ha reahe the enith of his
ahieements a Franklin the orl has neer seen before This is Franklin the entrepreneur sientist ampaigner an tireless
pamphleteer, the soon-to-be reolutionary It portrays him in the prime of life in his early s uring his rst iplomati isit
to onon here he as reognie as one of the greatest geniuses of his time an here he met an as hel in amiration
by some of the most inuential philosophers sientists an riters of the eighteenth entury
4
Historical Magazine, 2d ser. 4 (1868), p. 280; quoted in Sellers, p. 2.
5 Hinton, Meighan and Lins, p. 17.
6
Ibid.
7
Malcolm Baker, The Marble Index: Roubiliac and Sculptural Portraiture in Eighteenth Century Britain, New Haven and London, Yale University Press 2014, p. 61.
13

JPG 7249—Face forward (zoom in/
page bleed?)
14

The ysbrak bust of Benjamin Franklin is eeptionally important both historially an artistially an shes an eiting new
light on the sier pre-ating as it oes any knon portrait bust of Franklin by nearly years It as rst seen publially on 13
February hen an Assoiate ress nesire announe that the earliest knon life-size portrait bust of Benjamin
Franklin as to be oere at aution in a uropean sulpture sale at hristies onon on April of that year
Historians kne nothing of its eistene until atrik raley ho ran the arpenters Arms at Felikirk on the ege of the
North ork Moors onsigne the bust to aution in onon It seems that thirty years earlier as an eight-year-ol boy in
Nonghamshire raley oul aompany an elerly neighbor an his og on their aily alks ur neighbor oul rop his
bron trilby hat on its hea an say This ill be yours someay hen the neighbor moe aay it as brought to raleys
house in a heelbarro oere in a burlap sak harles Aery hea of sulpture at hristies at the time
reporte in the press release that the busts history is unknon an that relaties of the ol man ho gae it to raley
ont ant to be ientie 8 The pre-sale aution estimate as thought by many at the time to be aggressiely high hih
may hae intimiate many potential biers 9 This fat ombine ith the eision to oer the sulpture in Britain instea of
Ameria eliminate many potential priate an institutional buyers most if not all of hom ha no iea that the bust as
een oming up at aution ien that the bust as then auire through a priate sale transate by hristies onon the
bust as sent bak into obsurity until its oner oere it at othebys onon for aution in
imilarly the seon time it as oere as in a ery small an obsure sale of Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art at
othebys onon in uly The absence of any cross-marketing hatsoeer to lients in Ameria ho might hae ha an
interest in a portrait bust of Benjamin Franklin eliminate almost eery potential priate an institutional buyer The sculpture
as not fully unerstoo ithin the ionography of sulptural epitions of Franklin Hitherto unknon it oul neer hae
been inlue in the ionography of sulptural epitions of Franklin art of the eplanation may lie in its haing suh a
ague proenane ue to the fat that that eeeingly fe ouments in the form of aount books an leers surie from
Franklins rst e years in onon ompare to the years of his later role as the nite tates eae ommissioner in France
from to hen Franklin ent abroa again in he entruste his papers to an ol frien oseph alloay ho
by ha beome a loyalist uner ir illiam Hoe oliers sake the Franklin house in Buks ounty an its ontents
ere stolen or estroye These inlue as Franklin lamente in a leer to his son-in-la ihar Bahe a trunk ontaining
all my politial orresponene some aluable manusripts 11 ept for hat Bahe reoere from the oors an lans
Franklins leers leer-books an other manusripts ating from before ere irretrieably lost Most of the publishe
researh on Franklin in portraiture has fouse on the early perio before he ent to lie in onon in or beteen e
ember hen he arrie in aris an his return to the nite tates in hen the bust appeare at hristies on
on in it as unknon to sholars ien the fat that the bust as auire through a priate sale transate by hris
ties onon the bust as sent one again bak into obsurity until that olletor ontate othebys onon to oer it for
aution in
8 Graham Heathcote ‘Newly Discovered Bust of Ben Franklin Expected to Fetch $200,000’, Associated Press, 13 April 1986, .
9
Christie’s, London listed the auction estimate as ‘on request’ in the catalogue, yet noted journalist, Lita Solis Cohen, wrote that the range was $200,000—225,000.
10
Sotheby’s London, Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art, 10 July 2014, lot 141.
11 Quoted in J. Bell Whitefield, Jr., ‘Franklin’s Papers and the papers of Benjamin Franklin’, Pennsylvania History Journal, vol. XXII, no. 1, January 1955, pp. 1-17.
15

JPG 7021—Full view
16

Since the reappearance of Rysbrack’s bust a thorough review of the surviving primary documents, mostly in the form of
leers has helpe to onrm that the present bust is one of the most historially important objets etant from the Amerian
Colonial period. 12 Moreoer leers to an from Benjamin Franklin link ysbraks ne bust to the most important painting
ommemorating the oial inepenene of the nite tates of Ameria Benjamin ests unnishe painting American
Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain 1782-1784 g This painting is the ening image
of the en of the ar of Inepenene 13 Franklin has been esribe as the Founing ranfather of the Founing Fathers
of Ameria an in many ays the First Amerian He as a full generation oler than eorge ashington ohn Aams
Thomas eerson an atrik Henry an they all iee him ith the eepest respet Franklin ent from obsurity to
beome one of the orls most amire gures hose irle inlue oltaire Hume Burke an ant As one arent
Franklin amirer rightly elaime:
He is more than an American giant—he is in the rst tier in the Pantheon of modern ciiliations
geniuses and can e placed on the same leel as eonardo da inci Shaespeare and Guenerg 15
12 The present bust is 23 3/16 inches in height, compared to the marble Houdon busts, at the PMA and the MET which measure 16 ½ inches and 17 ½ inches in height
respectively (without their circular raised marble bases).
13 Winterthur Museum, Wilmington, DE, gift of Henry Francis du Pont 1957.856.
14 For additional information on Caleb Whitefoord see James Hamilton, A Strange Business: Making Art and Money in Nineteenth-Century Britain, Atlantic Books,
London, 2014, pp. 4, 137, 146-53, 161, 262, 298.
15
Roger Cohen, written review of H. W. Brands, The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin . Review posted on November 2, 2000.
17

As a sientist he as a major gure in the Amerian British an osh nlightenments the perio of intelletual ferment in
the thirteen olonies hih le to the Amerian eolution an the reation of the Amerian epubli He applie sienti
reasoning to politis siene an religion faore religious tolerane an promote literature an the arts an musi as
important isiplines orthy of stuy Franklin playe a major role in establishing the niersity of ennsylania an as
elete the rst presient of the Amerian hilosophial oiety Franklin beame a national hero in Ameria hen he
spearheae the eort to hae arliament in onon repeal the unpopular tamp At. An aomplishe iplomat he as
iely amire among the Frenh as Amerian minister to aris an as a major gure in the eelopment of positie
Frano-Amerian relations Muh has been rien about ohn Aams isenhantment oer Franklins popularity ith the
Frenh people but his lose relationship ith ing ouis I g an fello members of the Free Mason oiety helpe
gain Franes support an break Britains stronghol oer the olonies His eorts to seure support for the Amerian
eolution by shipments of ruial munitions proe ital for the Amerian ar eort an ensure Amerias inepenene
Benjamin Franklin is the only Amerian ho signe the three most important ouments in Amerian history The Treaty of
Paris The Constitution an the eclaration of ndependence
For alter Isaason this mae Franklin ‘the most accomplished American of his age and the most inuential in inenting the
type of society that would ecome America 16
16
Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, New York, Simon & Schuster, 2003.
19

Fig. 5: Benjamin West, American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain, 1783-1819. Oil on canvas, 28 ½
x 36 ¼ inches. Courtesy Winterthur Museum, Delaware (Gift of Henry Francis du Pont 1957.856)
20

Michael Rysbrack was born in 1694 in Antwerp. He trained as a sculptor under Michael van der Voort, and became a master of
the Guild of St. Luke in 1714 or 1715. There is no extant work known by him in Flanders, yet when he arrived in London in
he as alreay an inepenent master ith a istintly iniiual an innoatie style Through the patronage of the
arhitet ames ibbs an others he built relationships ith the men an omen of a ne soial elite mae up not only of
the aristoray but also of families hose ealth ame from the orls of nane an ommere 17 The British publi ere
aptiate by his inentieness an soon he oul ount or Burlington ihar Temple st isount obham an arah
st uhess of Marlborough amongst his most loyal patrons
A series of magnient baroue funerary monuments to suit all tastes an purses of hih the Marlborough monument at
Blenheim alae forshire is the granest g prompte Horae alpole to rite of ysbrak business roe upon
him an for many years all great orks ere ommie to him His moels ere thoroughly stuie an ably eeute: an
as a sulptor our taste in monuments improe hih till ysbraks time ha epene more on masonry than statuary
for its best ornaments 18
ysbrak is reite ith introuing the ontinental traition of arhitetural relief sulpture usually assoiate ith the
granest of himney piees 19 At lanon ark urrey ysbrak ontribute to eone eonis great marble hall for peaker
nslo Muh later obert Aam as to aise or Hope to use ysbrak for a aryati himneypiee at Hopetoun House
by inburgh hih herale Neo-lassiism an they orke together at eleston in erbyshire 20 Among other leaing
arhitets of the ay ysbrak orke ith illiam ent for the ing at ensington alae see g epite etreme right
of portrait by Gawen Hamilton, A Conversation of Virtuosis...at the Kings Arms) an for the rime Minister ir obert alpole at
Houghton in Norfolk He proie a series of historial busts for the Temple of British orthies for ents garen sheme at
toe in Bukinghamshire g 21 The busts there by ysbrak inlue the likenesses of Inigo ones illiam hakespeare
John Locke, ohn Milton an ir Isaa Neton ysbraks interpretations of these historial gures in the British pantheon
establishe in many ases the ioni type notably for hakespeare an Milton by hih these gures hae been an still are
reognie
17
Mark Hallett et. al.., Hogarth, Tate Publishing, London, 2006, p. 16.
18
Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting in England, London, J. Edwards, 1798, p. 478.
19 Malcolm Baker, ‘Sculpture for Palladian Interiors’, in Michael Rysbrack, Sculptor 1694-1770, in Katharine Eustace (ed., et al.), (exhibit cat.) Bristol City Art Gallery,
1982, pp.35-41.
20
Katharine Eustace, 'Robert Adam, Charles-Louis Clérisseau, Michael Rysbrack and the Hopetoun Chimneypiece', Burlington Magazine, vol.139, no.1136, November
1997, pp.743-752.
21
Katharine Eustace, ‘“The Politics of the Past”: Stowe and the Development of the Historical Portrait Bust’, Apollo, July 1998, pp. 31-40.
21

Fig. 6: John Vanderbank (1694-1739), Michael Rysbrack, c. 1728. Oil on canvas, 49 ½ x 39 ½ inches. National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG
1802)
22

ysbrak establishe sulpture as the fashionable alternatie to the painte portrait in mi-eighteenth century England. 22 His
ork represents the most prominent men of the time inluing eorge I an eorge II eneral ir ohn hurhill st Duke of
Marlborough ir inston hurhills forebear ommissione by his io arah uhess of Marlborough Britains rst
rime Minister ir obert alpole st arl of rfor 23 Henry t ohn st isount Bolingbroke one of the raial politiians
an philosophers ho inuene the Founing Fathers republianism his bust by ysbrak signe an insribe ith the
siers name 24 Among the many ad vivam portraits eeute by ysbrak ere a number of busts of leaing arhitets
sientists surgeons painters an euators of his ay 25
hen the young Franklin rst ame to onon as an apprentie printer in the s ir Isaa Neton as still alie ysbrak
as alle on to take Netons eath mask hen he ie in 26 an as ommissione to eeute ents esign for the
gran baroue monument to the great sientist in estminster Abbey noubtely as an enuiring isitor to onon an
reaer of oseph Aisons Spectator Franklin oul hae taken Aisons aie an gone to see the monuments in the
Abbey ysbrak reiterate Netons likeness in a series of busts aross a long orking life the earliest of hih is that at
toe hih Franklin oul surely hae seen hen he isite the famous garens in The latest is a signed and dated
terraoa of for ir ar ileton A ersion of hat oul be a bust of Neton appears in a portrait of Benjamin
Franklin hih oul aor ith Franklins amiration for Neton a former resient of the oyal oiety The portrait as
ommissione by obert Aleaner an inburgh ine merhant an frien of Franklin from the osh-born portrait
painter ai Martin ennsylania Aaemy of the Fine Arts 29 ubseuently Franklin himself reueste a ersion of
the portrait from Martin to sen bak to hilaelphia g
22 Katharine Eustace, ‘The Key is Locke: Hogarth, Rysbrack, and the Foundling Hospital’, British Art Journal, Autumn 2006, pp. 34-49; for the most up-to-date analysis
of the phenomenon of the portrait bust in the eighteenth century see Baker, 2014.
23
Marble bust at Houghton Hall, Norfolk; terracotta model, National Portrait Gallery (NPG 2126)
24 1737, Lydiard Tregoze, Swindon; Eustace, ‘Catalogue’, in Eustace, 1982, cat. no.50 (illus.).
25 Ibid., cat.no.1.
26 Margaret Webb, Michael Rysbrack Sculptor, London, Country Life 1954, pp.78; There are plaster casts at the Royal Society, London, and at Trinity College,
Cambridge; an iron cast is in the National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 2081).
27
Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Lord Kames, 3 January 1760, National Archives, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-09-02-0002.
28
Sold at Spink’s in 1932, now in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich; K. Esdaile, The Art of John Michael Rysbrack in Terracotta, Spink & Son Ltd, London
1932.
29 Gift of Maria McKean Allen and Phoebe Warren Downes, through the bequest of their mother Elizabeth Wharton McKean (1943.16.1).
30
Now in the White House, Washington DC.
23

Fig. 7 (above left): Michael Rysbrack, Sir Isaac Newton, c. 1728-30. Marble, Private Collection.
(From Malcom Baker, The Marble Index: Roubiliac and Sculptural Portraiture in Eighteenth-Century Britain, Yale University Press, New
Haven, 2014, p. 239)
Fig. 8: William Kent, Michael Rysbrack and Peter Scheemakers, The Temple of British Worthies, c.1734-5, Stowe, Buckinghamshire,
England
(photo: ©Trevor Rickard)
24

By the s ysbrak as in ompetition ith other immigrant sulptors suh as eter heemakers -1781) and
ouis-Franois oubilia - Neertheless ysbrak maintaine relations ith ol patrons an eelope ne ones
from the rising bourgeoisie among them the banker ihar Hoare of tourhea iltshire an ir ar ileton 31 A
ononer hose ientity has not yet been onrme ommissione a portrait bust of his son ohn Barnar in possibly
as a memorial aer the hils eath g Both the terraoa moel an the marble are signe an ate hile the sier
is ientie by the insription on the bak of the marble 32 Another hil portrait in hih the sier is ientie is that of the
six-year-ol ar alter This is signe an ate an is insribe ith the siers name an age: Edward Salter
aetatis 33 His father as Thomas alter lerk of the Boar of reen loth an aministratie epartment of the oyal
Househol at t amess plae an they lie in leelan o t amess just aross the ark from Franklins resiene in
raen treet ars granfather haing been hamber eeper to the riy ounil the alters ere three generations of
estminster an hrist hurh men the same euational trajetory as that of ohn oke ar oul hae been at
estminster an hrist hurh uring Franklins seon mission in onon an ill hae run aross the ark to estminster
here he as aptain of the hool As a royal oial Thomas alter an Franklin may ell hae met either oially oer
Franklins business in onon or in alters father-in-la oger illiamss popular oee house aross the roa from the
alae 34
31 For an informative correspondence between the sculptor and his patron Littleton, see Webb, Appendix 1.
32 Eustace, 1982, figs 8a-c and 9.
33 Ibid., figs 7a-c. Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
34
Katharine Eustace, ‘The Key is Locke: Hogarth, Rysbrack, and the Foundling Hospital’, British Art Journal (Autumn 2006), p. 42.
25

Fig. 9: Michael Rysbrack, Bust of John Churchill, 1 st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), 1720s. Marble, h. 24.8 inches, Metropolitan Museum
of Art, (2015.35)
Fig. 10: Michael Rysbrack, John Barnerd, c. 1744. Marble. h. 17 inches, w. 12 1 / 8 inches, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1976.330)
26

Michael Rysbrack was closely associated with the establishment of the Foundling Hospital by Thomas Coram in the late 1730s
an early s The rst artist to be elete to the Boar of oernors he as a member ith the painter illiam Hogarth the
merhant an arhitet Theoore aobsen an the miniature painter hristian inke of a ommiee of Taste establishe
to proie the embellishments for the ne builing esigne by aobsen This as the ineption of an artisti ommunity
hih thirty years later oul eole into the oyal Aaemy In the s uring Franklins rst isit to onon the founing
of an institution for abanone infants as a hot soial topi Franklin oul hae been intereste in its euational purposes
inspire by okes soial theories an ith the pratial purposes of training young people for the selement of the ast new
territories that ere being opene up in North Ameria The Hospitals founer as Thomas oram - a ship-wright
and sea captain who had set up boat-builing yars in Boston an Taunton Massahuses He ha marrie unie aite of
Boston but foun the intolerane an entrenhe atues of the uritan selers unongenial an retire to onon There
he atiely promote the olonies an as a trustee of the eorgia selement in His portrait by illiam Hogarth of
presents him as the robust plain sea-faring aptain he as his hair unresse his fae the reish hue of someone ho
has lie out of oors aught by the painter impatient to go out gloes in han but prouly proering the royal seal to the
Founling Hospital harter g 35 He an Franklin ha muh in ommon an it is inoneiable that the to i not meet
an isuss the maers in han
ysbraks reputation remaine high throughout his orking life but as so oen happens een ith the most famous artists
it fell into obsurity uite soon aer he ie To the generation oming to the fore as he retire ysbraks baroue lassicism
as ol fashione an though obert Aam ha orke ith him on his return from ome in the late s an early s
the fashionable tie of Neo-lassiism sept all before it ohn Flaman oul as rofessor f ainting in the oyal Aaemy
ismiss the ork of preious generations singling out ysbraks in partiular for isparagement Such was the decline in his
reputation that in ysbrak suere the posthumous ignominy of haing his great statue of ohn oke at hrist hurh
for asribe by oseph allaay to his rial ouis Franois oubilia 37
35 Captain Thomas Coram, Coram Family Collection, Foundling Hospital, London: Gillian Wagner, Thomas Coram, Gent., Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2004.
36 John Flaxman, R.A., An Address to the President and Members of the Royal Academy on the Death of Thomas Banks, R.A., Sculptor; 1805, quoted in Michael
Liversidge, ‘Rysbrack’s Reputation and Critical Fortunes’, in Eustace, et al., Michael Rysbrack Sculptor 1694-1770 (exhib. cat.), Bristol: City of Bristol Museum and Art
Gallery, 1982, pp. 42-48.
37 James Dallaway, Anecdotes of the Arts in England, London 1800, pp. 399-400; quoted in Liversidge, ibid.
27

Fig. 11: William Hogarth (1697-1764), Captain Thomas Coram, 1740. Oil on canvas, 238.7 x 147.3 centimeters, The Foundling Museum,
London (presented by the artist in 1740).
28

Benjamin Franklin as born in in Boston Massahuses His father osiah Franklin -1744), a tallow chandler and
soap-maker ha emigrate from the Milans of nglan to Ameria in in orer to pratie his uritan faith The ninth
hil of osiahs seon marriage to Abiah Folger of Nantuket Islan Benjamin ha lile formal shooling an as
apprentie to his brother ames as a printer at the age of In he moe to hilaelphia to ork in the printing trae,
loging as apprenties i in the house of his master ohn ea Franklin oul beome the most prominent printer in the
olonies an marry eas aughter eborah but in the short term he ent to onon in or to learn his trae in a
printing shop in the former ay hapel of t Bartholome the reat Here he as among the Nononformists of ile
Britain the area in hih the painter illiam Hogarth gre up In onon Franklin publishe his rst pamphlet A
issertation pon ierty and Necessity Pleasure and Pain n his return to hilaelphia in the s his prominene gre
an ith the suess of the publiation of Poor ichards Almanac - Franklin purhase the Pennsylania Gaee
In he foune the ibrary ompany the ountrys olest ultural institution an until the s the largest publi
library in Ameria Franklin as a great amirer of ames ogan an helpe him to foun an promote the oganian ibrary
hilaelphia The earliest purpose-built publi library house in a builing its nuleus as primarily eote to the sienes
In Franklin foune the ennsylania Hospital He ontinue to amass real estate an businesses organie the nion
Fire ompany an as elete ran Master of the ennsylania Masons lerk of the ennsylania tate Assembly from
to an ostmaster of hilaelphia
38 Jenny Uglow, Hogarth, A Life and a World, London: Faber and Faber, 1997, pp. 6-7.
29

Fig. 12 (above left): From Diderot’s Encylopedie, Dictionnaire Raisonne des Sciences, Paris, 1761-89. Engraving.
Fig. 13 (top): The Library Company of Philadelphia, c. 1780-1790. Woodblock.
Fig. 14 (bottom): The Pennsylvania Hospital, c. 1799. Engraving.
30

ith his inention of the Franklin stoe the s sa Franklin applying his abiing interest in eletriity an other sienti
ieas to pratial solutions He onute eperiments on the paern of urrents an aske his ousin Timothy Folger a
haling aptain an merhant from Nantuket to sketh a map of the phenomenon that he name the ulf tream This
hart as printe in as a guie to paket ship aptains on the estar oyages As the historian mun Morgan has
pointe out Franklin oere etaile instrutions for altering the hulls of ships an their rigging in orer to improe their
spee an safety he suggeste ne ays of moing them by propellers pale heels an jet propulsion ays of sloing
them on in a storm by sea anhors an methos of proiing beer foo on long oyages an storing argo to improe
stability He een re an image of a ying mahine
As one ho beliee in the reasonableness of man an that the phenomena of nature shoul sere him Franklin
as greatly intereste in the improement of the onition of mankin:
That as we enoy great Adantage from the nentions of others we should e glad of an pportunity to
sere others y any nention of ours and this we should do freely and generously
He as the enter of the unto a group of intelletuals at the ore of hilaelphia politis an ultural life at the time hih
beame the basis of the Amerian hilosophial oiety Franklin foune an as for many years the resient of the Boar
of Trustees for the Aaemy that later beame the niersity of ennsylania His ahieements le to his being gien
honorary egrees from Harar an ale in an in he reeie honors from the niersities of inburgh an t
Anres an an honorary egree from the niersity of for in
Franklin as the man ho shape an ene olonial an eolutionary Ameria hile sering as ennsylanias
representatie in onon from to an representatie in onon for ennsylania eorgia Massahuses an
Ne ersey from to Benjamin Franklin efene Amerias position before hostile British oials an helpe in
the repeal of the tamp At hile pleaing for Amerian representation in arliament He sere as eputy ostmaster of
the olonies from to From to he as a member of the ontinental ongress uring hih time he
haire the ommiee that organie the Amerian postal system an as hugely inuential in the raing of the Articles of
Confederation an the eclaration of ndependence
39 Edmund S. Morgan, ‘Papers of Benjamin Franklin’, American Philosophical Society, 2002.
40 Ibid., p. 4.
41 Franklin served as President of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, from 1749 to 1756 and 1789 to 1790.
31

Fig. 15: Justus C. Strawbridge, Benjamin Franklin, 1899. College Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(photo: courtesy of collegevibe.com)
32

Benjamin Franklin’s extended stays in London, from 1757 to August 1762 when he returned to Philadelphia, and from 1764 to
ere marke by an etraorinary soial an ultural suess He an his aknolege illegitimate son illiam Franklin
(1730-1813), boarded at 36 Craven Street with the widowed Margaret Stevenson (or Stephenson) and her daughter Mary,
ho as aetionately aresse by Franklin as olly olly subseuently marrie the surgeon illiam Heson an
ontinue to lie at No hen her mother moe ith the Franklins to raen treet Franklin onute eperiments in
Hewson’s laboratory in Craven Street. The Stevensons and Hewsons became surrogate family and life-long friends to father
and son.
hen Franklin arrie in onon on his seon isit in uly he as by then a suessful self-made man, but more
importantly he as hel in high esteem by the sienti orl of the ay He ame as the agent of the ennsylania
Assembly to negotiate the enn familys liability to taation on their lans As a y-year-old Philadelphian, he had already
aaine a personal fortune from his suessful printing an publishing business eote his time to publi aairs
euational an philanthropi shemes an sienti eperiments As the author of New Eperiments and serations on
Electricity, Made at Philadelphia, in American, he had been elected in asentia to membership of the Society for the
Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, today the Royal Society of Arts, in 1755, and to Britain’s leading
sienti boy the oyal oiety in
The publiation of Franklins Experiments an his nings ha far reahing eets on the sienti ommunity an the
general publi alike an propelle him to something akin to elebrity status amongst sientists philosophers riters an
men of leers throughout nglan otlan an urope hen Franklin arrie in onon eter ollinson a prominent
member of the oyal oiety ha alreay publishe Franklins treatise on eletriity in inluing the no legenary kite
eperiment uner the title The treatise as soon translate into most uropean languages an into atin an as Franklins
frien the sientist r oseph riestley later rote in his istory and Present State of Electricity nothing as eer rien up
on the subject of electricity which was more generally read and admired in all parts of Europe’. 42
42 Joseph Priestley, History and Present State of Electricity, London, J. Dodsley, 1767, pp. 159.
33

Fig. 16: David Martin (1737-1797) Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790, 1767. Oil on canvas, 49 x 40 inches, The White House, Washington D.C.
34

Benjamin Franklins status as a leaing sientist his membership as a Fello of the oyal oiety an his assoiation ith
onnoisseurs an artists may hae ombine uring his seon sojourn in onon to prompt the ommission of a portrait
bust by a sulptor of ysbraks istintion By the time of Franklins thir isit in the s ysbrak as essentially retire
haing sol his stuio eets in ellers elare to Benjamin Franklin portrait painting as inisputably one of the
arts of frienship an personal assoiation 43 Franklin appreiate the art of the portrait bust for he note inorretly as it
happens in a leer ate anuary to the osh jurist Henry Home or ames that isount obham ha inlue
illiam enn among the busts of famous men in the Temple of British Worthies in his garen at toe 44
That Franklin as aare of the importane of sulpture in mi-eighteenth entury onon is eient from one of the earliest
leers he rote to his ife eborah at home in hilaelphia in hih he remarke I n Marble ork in great ogue here
an one in great erfetion at present an ontinue I think it oul muh improe ousin osey oseph roker if he
as to ome oer an ork in some of the best hops for a ear or to 45 Franklins statement seems to suggest that his
on personal isits to these marble orkshops le to his ability to form an opinion as to hih of them ere the best In the
same leer Franklin informe his ife that he planne to go to Bristol in the spring If he i go he oul ertainly hae seen
ysbraks great euestrian statue of illiam III in ueen uare g an his monument to the merhant philanthropist
ar olston in All aints hurh an possibly een ysbraks ad vivam omesti busts of the ossins an Innys families
at elan ourt on the outskirts of Bristol The Innys brothers haing been fello publishers an booksellers an agents
for many of Isaa Netons orks ha retire from onon in the mi-s hile illiam ha ie in ohn Innys
ontinue to lie at elan ourt until his eath in e kno that Innys as isite by among others the sientist and
eplorer ir oseph Banks Franklin nishe the same leer to eborah by saying that he ha just sent my iture in
Miniature by a Man of ar lately sailing for Ne ork 49 This is the earliest knon portrait of Franklin painte speially for
his ife shortly aer his arrial in onon in tober an sent to her in anuary Franklin ears a reish purple
banyan or ressing gon beneath hih one sees a yello aistoat an hite shirt an on his hea the hite ap hih a
gentleman ore in the priay of home as a omfortable substitute for a ig g
43 Sellers, pp. 336-8.
44 A.H. Smith, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, London, Macmillan & Co. 1906, vol. IV, p. 279.
45 Franklin to Deborah Franklin, January 1758, BF85 XLVI (ii), 97. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia. Croker, a stone mason who carved the inscription
stone for Franklin’s parents Josiah and Abiah Franklin, was killed by Native Americans in 1758, after Franklin had left for Europe.
46
T. Friedman, ‘Rysbrack and Gibbs’ in Eustace 1982, pp.16-22; and K. Eustace, ‘Bread and Sermons: History in the Public Acknowledgement of Individual Lives’, in
Douglas Merritt and Francis Greenacre, Public Sculpture of Bristol, Public Sculpture of Britain, Vol. 12, Liverpool University Press for the Public Monuments and Sculpture
Association 2011, pp. xxxvii-lxv.
47 See Eustace 1982, cat. nos. 15, 16, 19, 20, and Katharine Eustace, ‘”A Place Full of Rich and Industrious People”. Art and Patronage in Bristol in the first half of the
18th century’, British Art Journal, vol. VII, no. 1, (Spring/Summer 2006), pp. 3-16.
48
Eustace 1982, cat. No. 20.
49 Franklin to Deborah Franklin, 1758; American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (BF85 XLVI (ii), 97).
50 On ivory and initialed C.D. it has been attributed to C. Dixon; Museum of Fine Arts Boston (Gift of Dr. Franklin Greene Balch, 1943.0); Sellers, pp. 236-239, pl. 2.
35

Quote (above left): Benjamin Franklin to Deborah Franklin, January 1758. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (BF85 XLVI (ii),
97)
Fig. 17: The studio of an eighteenth-century sculptor; from Denis Diderot and Jean Le Rond d’Alembert, Recueil de planches, sur les sciences,
les art liberaux et les arts mechaniques, avec leur explication, Paris, Briasson 1771, vol. 8, pl. I.
Fig. 18: William Henry Pyne (1769-1843), A sculptor’s studio; view of interior crammed with busts, statues, and visitors, c. 1784. Pen and
ink and wash, 16.5 x 23.7 cm. British Museum, London (1913.0528.59)
36

Benjamin Franklin as an atie member of numerous lubs notably the oiety of Arts or remium oiety as it as knon
from its giing out pries in arious ategories to aspirant artists an rasmen The oietys seretary amuel More a frien
of osiah egoo an oseph riestley as elete uite likely on Franklins proposal a member of the Amerian
hilosophial oiety in reiously Franklin ha propose his goo frien an neighbor the ine merhant aleb
hitefoor to the oiety in Another lose frien as Benjamin ilson - a painter printmaker an
sientist an natural philosopher or as e oul say sientist Appeni The fourteenth hil of a ealthy ork lothier
ilson moe to onon hen his fathers business faile ne in onon he sele into the group of artists aroun illiam
Hogarth hih eentually eelope from the t ukes lub o t Martins ane into the founations of the oyal Aaemy
Together ilson an Hogarth onute the embrant print hoa at the epense of the painter Thomas Huson ilson
built up a luratie portrait pratie ompeting ith Husons pupil the young oshua eynols an painte hat is
onsiere to be the earliest knon life-sie portrait of Franklin of hih the sier orere seeral opies g It as in
this group that Franklin may rst hae ome aross Mihael ysbrak being another lubbable man 53
51 Uglow, pp. 510-12.
52 Sellers, p. 55.
53 Katharine Eustace, ‘No vain man’, in Eustace 1982, pp. 9-15.
37

Fig. 19 (above left): Attributed to C. Dixon, Benjamin Franklin, 1757, watercolor on ivory, 2 x 1/2 inches, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Gift of
Dr. Franklin Greene Balch, 43.1318)
Fig. 20: Benjamin Wilson, Benjamin Franklin, 1759. Oil on canvas, 30 x 25 inches, The White House, Washington, D.C.
38

Benjamin Wilson had published an essay on the ‘Phenomena of Electricity, deduced from the Aether of Sir Isaac Newton’ in
1746, and been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1751. In 1760 he was awarded the Copley Medal for his experiments
with tourmaline, as Franklin had been four years previously. 54 Both ere members of the same sienti ommunity hih
regularly met at the many oee houses in onon. The onersation oul hae failitate isussion on topis ranging from
horse raing to politis an the arts an reete ontemporary ultures interest in siene an in the appliations of
siene hih as iely iuse among the gentry but also merhants epert master-tradesmen, and the middle classes
generally’. 55 Franklins faorite oterie uring his years as olonial agent in onon as a supper lub that met eery fortnight
at t auls oeehouse an aer at the onon oeehouse this as the group that in he alle the lub of
Honest Whigs’. 56 Franklin establishe lose frienships ith the leaer of the osh nlightenment philosopher ai
Hume an illiam hipley the founer of the oiety for the nouragement of the Arts ho ran a raing shool for artists
rauates inlue r ohn Fothergill eter ollinson ai Hartley illiam trahan the osh printer publisher ho
publishe r ohnsons ictionary Benjamin aughan the Frenh enylopeist enis ierot an the nitarian isoerer
of oygen an oseph riestley hen these to men ere separate by the Atlanti they playe hess together eah moe
taking six weeks.
In uly Benjamin Franklin eie to trae his roots in Northamptonshire an forshire an also ith his son illiam
he visited the village of Ecton, between Northampton and Wellingborough, where his ancestors had owned property from the
mid-sixteenth century, and where his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had been born. Franklin also visited Banbury
here he foun the graes of his granfather an his unle ohn Franklin ne of his objeties on the trip as to loate one
of the family suits-of-armor in order to create a Franklin coats-of-arms. At Ecton, his niece took him to see the gravestones of
another unle Thomas an his ife leanor The Franklins oul hae unoubtely seen the marble bust
by ysbrak on the all monument in the hurh to the mathematiian an astronomer ohn almer one-time
etor of ton This ha been erete posthumously in by his granson another ohn almer ho ha been painte
by William Hogarth in 1749, 57 and was to be himself immortalized 30 years later by a similar monument also by Rysbrack.
54 Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004 (online ed.)
55 V.W. Crane, “The Club of Honest Whigs: Friends of Science and Liberty,” William and Mary Quarterly, 1966, pp. 1-2.
56 Ibid., p. 1.
57
John Palmer, Barrister of the Inner Temple; Yale Centre for British Art (YCBA/lido-TMS-391)
58 Nicholas Pevsner, (revised, Deborah Cherry), Northamptonshire, Buildings of England series, New Haven and London, Yale University Press 2002; Ingrid, Roscoe,
Emma Hardy and M. G. Sullivan. A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain 1660-1851. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
39

Fig. 21: Gawen Hamilton, A Conversation of Virtuosis...at the Kings Arms, 1735. Oil on canvas, 34 ½ x 43 7 / 8 inches. National
Portrait Gallery of London (NPG 1384). Rysbrack is depicted third from right, with his left hand on a head after the antique, directly across
from William Kent on the extreme right. Rysbrack modeled the heads of six of the Virtuosi gathered here, and is the only sculptor present.
40

The Franklins may also hae seen ysbraks terraoa moel for almers bust hih until ery reently as oer the front
oor of the etory Appeni A 59 The younger almer inuene by the oiety for the romotion of hristian nolege
ha opene a shool in ton in hih oul hae been of partiular interest to Franklin The ombination of anestral
roots an ommemoration of siene philosophy an learning oul hae struk a hor ith Franklin He as not alone
among olonials in being aare of the symboli signiane of portrait busts In late eorge ashington himself
reueste si library busts possibly of brone plaster one of Aler the reat—another of ulius sar—anr of hs
eeen a th of the ing russiaother Busts of rine ugene the uke f Marlboro—somehat smaller for Mount
ernon 60
Father an son then journeye on to the North of nglan an otlan an he rote aer this rst trip in muh the same
spirit as r ohnson years later that it inlue some of the most enjoyable times he eer eperiene 61 inburgh as
the enter of the osh nlightenment a remarkable era in the intelletual history of urope an a plae here Franklin
felt ery muh at home an here he met many men of enius The Honor pai to Franklin an the ne friens he mae
mark this journey as one of the high points of his rst mission to reat Britain It as a journey they repeate in the
autumn of the folloing year in
At the en of his seon sojourn on Franklins eparture for Boston in Mason hamberlin painte the rst of a series of
portraits of him g Franklin esribe the ommission:
ust efore le ondon in late uly or early August a Gentleman reuested would sit for a Picture
to e drawn of me for him y a Painter of his choosing did so and the Portrait was recond a ery
ne one Since came away the Painter has had a Print done from it of which he has sent a Parcel
here for Sale hae taen a oen of them to send to Boston and it eing the only way in which am
now liely to eer to isit my Friends there hope a long isit in this Shape will not e disagreeale to
them 63
He later orere a opy of this portrait for his son illiam 64
59
It was first sold through Christie’s, London, 6 December 1988, lot 128, and then again through Sotheby’s, London, 14 July 2010, lot 125: see Balderston, Gordon, catalogue
note to John Palmer (1612-79) Rector of Ecton, Sotheby’s London, July 14, 2010, lot 125; and Pevsner and Cherry.
60 George Washington to Robert Cary & Company, [Mount Vernon] 20 September 1759. John C. Fitzpatrick (ed.), Writings of George Washington, Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, vol. 2; quoted in Roscoe, et al., 2009.
61
For a full account see Michael Atiyah, ‘Benjamin Franklin and the Edinburgh Enlightenment’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 150, no. 4,
(December 2006), p. 591-9.
62 Leonard Labaree, and W. B. Wilcox (eds), The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, 24 volumes to date, New Haven, Yale University Press 1959-84, vol. 8, p. 430.
63 Franklin to Jonathan Williams, 24 February 1764; ibid., vol. 11, p.89.
64 Sellers, p. 57-58.
41

Fig. 22: Mason Chamberlin (1727-1787), Benjamin Franklin, 1762. Oil on canvas, 50 3 / 8 x 40 ¾ inches. Philadelphia Museum of Art (Gift of
Mr. and Mrs. Wharton Sinkler, 1956-88-1)
42

Benjamin Franklin spent almost one third of his life—26 years—in Europe serving as a diplomat for the American Colonies,
an eentually for the nite tates of Ameria Aer years in nglan ith seeral trips bak to the olonies in
beteen he arrie in in aris representing the nely elare nite tates of Ameria Franklin beame the rst
American minister, the eighteenth entury euialent of an Ambassaor, to be reeie by a foreign goernment Franklins
house in assy just outsie aris beame the enter of Amerian iplomay in urope 65 While there, he single-handedly
seure the Treaty of Alliane an sister Treaty of Amity an ommere ith Frane in hih turne the tie of the
Amerian eolution 66 Here one again Benjamin Franklin ame to the resue Aer hearing nes of both the elaration of
Inepenene an eneral ashingtons efeat by British fores in Ne ork the Frenh Foreign Minister ompte e
ergennes as lose to suling the Frano-Amerian alliane ith the help of the ommiee of eret orresponene
Franklin apitalie on his strong relationship ith Frenh royalty an oials to gain a seret loan an lanestine military
ai from the Frenh Foreign Minister In turn ing ouis I of Frane gae oial approal to ommene negotiations for
formal alliane hih le the Amerian olonies to turn on a British proposal for reoniliation in anuary It as a
aunting mission an hile Frenh aristorats an intelletuals embrae Franklin as the personiation of Ne orl
nlightenment goernment leaers negotiators an goals hange ne sie trie to iie an manipulate the other
Transatlanti orresponene as reafully slo—orers from ongress faile to arrie an peae ommissioners notes
ere lost an leers ere opene by spies an re-sealed.
Franklins nal iplomati mission in ith a team of Amerian eae ommissioners among them ohn Aams ohn
ay an Henry aurens Appenies F as to negotiate a peae treaty ith Britain to soliify the goals of the
eolution The morale boost of the Amerian itory at the Bale of aratoga an the surrener of eneral ornallis at
orkton later in the year persuae arliament to aise eorge III to make peae an the ing agree not to eerise a
royal veto over American Independence. The nes of eneral Burgoynes surrener at aratoga as instrumental in
formally bringing Frane into the ar This bale also resulte in pain joining Frane in the ar Against reat Britain
Appeni When Thomas eerson sueee Franklin in an the Frenh Foreign Minister ergennes aske It is you
ho replae r Franklin eerson replie no one an replae him ir I am only his suessor
65 U.S. Department of State, Online Office of the Historian, Milestones: 1776-1783, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783.
66
Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State, https://history.state.gov.
67 Stacy Schiff, A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2005, p. 296.
43

Fig. 23 (above left): Benjamin Franklin L.L.D. - Envoy from the American Congress to the French Court, 1780. Engraving, From An
impartial history of the war in America, between Great Britain and her colonies, from its commencement to the end of the year 1779, London
& Carlisle, 1780, p. 345
Fig. 24: Franklin at the Court of Louis XVI. (from Mark Skousen, The Completed Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin, Washington, Regnery
Publishing, 2006, pp. 228-229)
44

On Sunday, 14 April 1782, out at Passy, Franklin received a surprise visit from Caleb Whitefoord. Dispatched to Paris
hitefoor as to introue the eae missary ihar sal reently appointe by or helburne the British eretary
of tate to Franklin an the Amerian elegation hitefoor arrie a leer from helburne hih set out among other
maers onessions toars peae 68 It was arranged that Franklin would meet Oswald the next morning. 69 Both were
‘inspired choices’, 70 for both hitefoor an sal ere osh merhants ith similar bakgrouns an part of the same
irle of the inburgh nlightenment Further both ere higs hitefoor as a it an a Franklin intimate longtime
frien an neighbor sine the laers arrial in onon in He shoe a istint sympathy for the Amerian ause
eiene of hih is epresse in a leer he rote some years later to the Amerian hilosophial oiety:
Your Venerated President, the late Dr Benjamin Franklin had for many years honored me with his friendship
andthat intimacy which was the Pride and appiness of my ife may hae in some degree rec
ommended me to your notice hae long een a sincere Well-wisher to America and no-one lamented
more the unhappy uarrel etween the Colonies and the Parent State: And haing lent a helping hand to
stop the orrors of War and to negotiate a Peace etween the two Countries hae the satisfaction to
thin that hae not lied in ain 71
Oswald was a seventy-six-year-old Scot of ‘modest bearing and liberal opinions’, 72 ho ha lie for a time in Ameria In
Franklins ie sal as neither title nor a iplomat he as reite ith being erse in the orl yet eoi of the
prie of aristoray ithout being suspete of emoray a esription that for many years oul hae e Franklin
well. 73 ith the eeption of a fe important missions hitefoor remaine in aris throughout the entire peae
negotiation proess sering as sals seretary an oul later be promote by helburne to the key position of eretary
to the Commission.
The ays that folloe ere intense an lle ith negotiations Aer spening the night at Franklins house hitefoor le
aris for onon on April arrying ith him a leer to Franklins lose friens Margaret teenson an olly Heson 74 He
was also on a mission to supply the Philadelphia-born historical painter Benjamin West (1738-1820) Appeni H ith a like
ness or two of Franklin est aer some time in Italy ha sele in onon in marrying a hilaelphian the folloing
year. Franklin and West were both members of the New England community in London, another was Philip Ludwell III (1716-
a irginia planter an Inian negotiator ho ha moe to onon in an liing at raen treet as a
neighbor of Franklin’s. Franklin stood godfather to West’s second son, Benjamin Franklin West (1772-1848). Benjamin West
senior became a highly successful history painter in London, and ‘Painter Extraordinary to King George III
68 Ibid., pp.102-103.
69 Ibid., pp.155-156.
70 Ibid., p. 296.
71
Schiff, p. 297; W.A.S. Hewins, The Whitefoord Papers, Oxford 1898, p. 211; D G. C Allan and John L. Abbott, The Virtuoso Tribe of Arts & Sciences: Studies in the
Eighteenth-Century Work and Membership of the London Society of Art,. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992, pp. 77, 230; George Goodwin, Benjamin Franklin in
London, the British Life of America’s Founding Father, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2016, p. 278.
72 Schiff, p. 296.
73 Schiff, p. 297. quoting from Richard Brandon Morris, John Jay: The Winning of Peace (New York: Harper Collins, 1980), p. 345.
74 Franklin referred to Mary Stevenson Hewson, his close friend and daughter of his London landlady Margaret Stevenson, as Polly in his letters; Schiff, p. 328.
45

Fig. 25: Gilbert Stuart, Caleb Whitefoord, 1782. Oil on canvas, 30 ¼ x 25 1 / 8 inches. Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey (Clayton E. Freeman
Fund)
46

His Death of General Wolfe, ehibite at the oyal Aaemy in the summer of ause a sensation by presenting the
sene ith the partiipants in ontemporary ress instea of lassial robes ests realism an auray as remarke on
and this became a hall-mark of his ork Folloing the eath of ir oshua eynols in est beame the seon
resient of the oyal Aaemy the rst an only time an Amerian has eer hel that post 75 uring one of ohn Aams
earlier isits to onon it as Benjamin est ho arrange a tour for him of the oyal uarters at Bukingham alae an
Aams later reporte that est an ohn opley ere the frienliest an most helpful Amerians he met uring his stay
there
ien his lose relationship ith many of those inole in the negotiations est oul almost ertainly hae been aare of
the imminene of the signing of the Preliminary Peace Treaty An aurate reor of this most important historial eent
oul be a subjet orth painting an est as etermine to reate a enitie image of the en of the eolutionary
ar g . He ha a motie in making this important ork as historially aurate as possible 76 omparison of his ork to
that of fello Amerians the painters ohn Trumbull 1756- an ohn ingleton opley - oul be
ineitable These to artists ha reently reeie ritial alaim from art ritis an members of the oyal family hen they
ehibite at the oyal Aaemy ohn ingleton opleys Collapse of the Earl of Chatham in the House of Lords, July 7, 1778,
ha neertheless been ritiie by the esteeme art riti Horae alpole for the inauraies of the faes in the assemble
crowd. 77 Aer alpoles ritiue est oul hae been more etermine than eer to epit eah of the members of the
elegation as aurately as possible Franklin suering from gout oul not make the journey from aris to sit for est In
orer to ensure that the likeness as as aurate as possible est appears to hae inite aleb hitefoor a note art
olletor an onnoisseur g 78 to n portraits of Franklin ne of these by oseph right of Ne ersey -
as from his on olletion g The other hih Franklin might hae mentione on that unay eening in April out at
assy as a bust hih it is propose here as the one by ysbrak
75 1792-1820; due to internal politics there was a gap between 1805 and 1806.
76 A.J. Fox, The Great House of Benjamin West: Family workshop, and Identity in Late Georgian England, PhD thesis, University of Maryland, 2014, pp. 141-147.
77 John Singleton Copley, The Collapse of the Earl of Chatham in the House of Lords, 7 July 1778 (1779-80, Tate, London).
78
For additional information on Caleb Whitefoord see James Hamilton, A Strange Business: Making Art and Money in Nineteenth-Century Britain, Atlantic Books, London,
2014, pp. 4, 137, 146-53, 161, 262, 298.
79
This Joseph Wright is not to be confused with Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 – 1797). Born in Bordentown, New Jersey, from whence his mother, the distinguished
wax portrait modeler Patricia Wright, had emigrated to London, the young Wright had attended the Royal Academy Schools, and won a silver medal. He would have
become, had he not prematurely died, the first Chief Engraver of the Mint for the newly independent United States.
47

(above left): Signatures and wax seals of David Hartley, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay to the Treaty of Paris, 1783
(courtesy of ourdocuments.gov, www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=6&page=transcript)
Fig. 26: Benjamin West, Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky, c. 1816. Oil on slate, 13 3 / 8 x 10 1 / 16 inches. Philadelphia
Museum of Art (Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Wharton Sinkler, 1958-132-1)
48

The portrait by right as a opy of one of Franklins faorite epitions of himself: a portrait painte on Franklins arrial in
Paris in 1778 by Joseph Duplessis (1725–1801), and exhibited in the Salon the following year g 80 This portrait, of which
there are many ersions inluing Franklins preferre ersion the slightly less formal gray oat eample in pastel on paper
in the olletions of the Ne ork ubli ibrary oul beome one of the ening images of Franklin use as it has been on
the Amerian ollar bill 80A The artists mother atiene right - the a portrait moeler remarke in a leer to
Franklin from onon in uly I am ery happy to here by Mr hitefoor an others that my son is painting your
portrait 81 ersions of this opy ere in great eman: a number ere obtaine by hitefoor one of hih he gae to his
mother 82 one he kept for himself hih he lent to Benjamin est an subseuently presente to the oyal oiety in
g an to for presentation to friens of Franklins in onon To further opies ent to the British ommissioner
ihar sal one to another Franklin frien illiam Hogson an yet another to his nephe onathan illiams eman
as so strong that right himself ha rien to Franklins granson illiam Temple Franklin ho as the seretary to the
Amerian ommission in asking permission to make another opy of it aing Mr hitefoor took the last one I
mae 83
80 Sellers, p.420.
80A
Sellers, pps. 264-265, specifically illustration p. 25.
81
Patience Wright to Franklin, 30 July 1782; quoted in Charles Henry Hart, ‘An Original Portrait of Doctor Franklin, Painted by Joseph Wright’, Pennsylvania Magazine
of History and Biography Vol. 32, No. 8 (1908): 320-334.
82 Ibid.
83
Joseph Wright to William Temple Franklin, 29 August 1782, William Temple Franklin Papers, 1775-1819, Mss.B. F86, c.1782 ALS. CVII, 81; Sellers, p. 420.
49

Fig. 27 (above left): Matthew Pratt (1734-1805), The American School, c. 1765,. Oil on canvas, 36 x 50 1/4 inches. Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York (Gift of Samuel P. Avery, 1897, 97.29.3)
Fig. 28: Joseph Duplessis (1725-1802), Benjamin Franklin, 1778. Oil on canvas, 28 1/2 x 23 inches, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York, The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931, 32.100.132)
50

The other delegates to the American Peace Commission, John Adams, John Jay and Henry Laurens were painted from life
uring sings in ests stuio an in une hitefoor rote to illiam Temple Franklin suggesting that all that as
neee to make the painting ompleat as the inlusion of illiam Temple Franklin an Benjamin Franklin:
Some time ago our old Friend r West haing the opportunity of seeing three of the American
Plenipos here wishing to transmit their Portraits to Posterity in some istorical picture made a
Setch of the signing the Preliminary Treaty to which contriuted a material part—y lending
him the Portrait of your Grand father y r Wright which rought with me from Paris—There is
only wanting To mae it compleat a head of the Secretary to the American Commission which
r West reuests you will send us A miniature will do ut it shoud e in Colours the atude of
the ead looing oer the right Shoulder— hae promised the Portrait of your Grand Father
when r West can spare it to rs ewson who from her long acuaintance great eneration
for him thought highly desering of such a present— resere a Copy of it for myself hae
gien one to r Strahan.
entually hen on a isit to onon in August illiam Temple Franklin sat in person for his portrait in ests stuio.
There still remaine the neessity of taking portraits of the British elegation speially of hitefoor himself an of
ihar sal hitefoor ha been painte by the Amerian painter ilbert tuart in an this portrait as use as a
soure by est as hitefoor as aay in aris throughout the negotiations. However, Richard Oswald had a great
sensitiity an in fat a total aersion to being epite in any ay on anas or in sulpture an no portrait of him eisted
hih est oul opy As late as the iaries of ohn uiny Aams note that est ha hopes of nishing it in orer
to present the painting to ongress g
84
Caleb Whitefoord to William Temple Franklin, 30 June 1784; franklinpapers.org.
85 Arthur S. Marks, ‘Benjamin West and the American Revolution’, American Art Journal, Vol VI, No. 2, November 1974, pp. 31-33.
86 Whitefoord to Franklin, 30 June 1784; franklinpapers.org.
87 Marks, pp. 31-33.
88 Ibid.
51

Fig. 29: Joseph Wright, Benjamin Franklin, 1782. Oil on canvas, 29 3/4 x 25 1/2 inches. The Royal Society, London (presented
by Caleb Whitefoord FRS, 1790, RS.9270)
52

hen Franklin arrie in aris in eember he as a orl famous sientist an politiian hom leaing artists ere
eager to portray ean-Antoine Houon - the premier portrait sulptor in Frane no oubt hope that his bust of
Franklin oul result in future ommissions in hat as emerging as the nite tates It is iely beliee that Franklin id
not sit for Houon an inee the to men i not meet until 89 ather Houon reate the likeness from seeing
Franklin at meetings of the Masoni loge of hih they ere both members an at publi eents 90 He presente Franklin in
Quaker dress in his mid-s pose frontally ith his hea slightly loere an gaing to one sie g This is the bestknon
portrayal of Franklin an establishe the aepte likeness of him that is to say the Houon image beame the ioni
one that is reognie aroun the orl 91 As he might hae hope Houon mae busts of other Amerian patriots inluing
eorge ashington an Thomas eerson n the reommenation of Franklin an eerson he reeie the ommission for
a life-sie marble statue of eorge ashington ommissione for irginia tate apitol in ihmon irginia in
installe ean-aues aeri - sulptor to ouis of Frane epite as early as an een more
world-eary man: the famously bloo-houn eyes an furroe bro eiene of the strains of negotiating a peae
selement that oul establish a ne nation on a ast ontinent Appeni I
A reassessment of the leers rien to Franklin by Franklins friens Benjamin est an ames Huon esribing it appeare
in ests stuio proies poerful eiene that the bust eliere by aleb hitefoor to ests stuio in onon an the
bust of by Mihael ysbrak are one an the same aleb hitefoor ha eliere a leer from Franklin to Benjamin est
at Neman treet on the or of April 92 He must hae eliere the painting an a bust then or thereabouts for a fe
ays aer hitefoors isit est rote to Franklin:
89 Hinton, Meighan and Lins, p. 33.
90 Ibid., 31.
91 The earliest version of this, signed and dated 1778, is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.72.6). A second version, dated 1779 is in the
Philadelphia Museum of Art; Sellers, p.309. Of the many plaster casts of this bust Houdon gave four to Franklin himself, one of which William Temple Franklin lent to
the Salon de la Correspondence in 1783 for an exhibition of famous men, and Thomas Jefferson purchased another. There is a plaster cast in a private collection in Bryn
Mawr, Pennsylvania; Hinton, Meighan and Lins, 2011, 17.
92
West lived at 14 Newman Street from 1774 to 1820; Kaylin Haverstock Weber, The studio and collection of the 'American Raphael': Benjamin West, P.R.A. (1738-
1820), PhD thesis, University of Glasgow 2013.
53

Fig. 5 (above left): Benjamin West, American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain, 1783-1819. Oil on
canvas, 28 ½ x 36 ¼ inches. Courtesy, Winterthur Museum, Delaware (Gift of Henry Francis du Pont 1957.856)
Fig. 30: Benjamin West to Benjamin Franklin, 28 April 1782. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (BF85 XXV, 49)
54

Fig. 6: Cropped image of Benjamin Franklin from American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Negotiations with Great Britain, by Benjamin
West, 1783-1819, oil on canvas, 28 ½ x 36 ¼ inches, Courtesy, Winterthur Museum, gift of Henry Francis duPont 1957.856
55

JPG —Cropped to match
56

t always gae me and rs West the greatest satisfaction to hear of your health- a conrmation
hae not only receied y your friend ut hae now efore in a Bust which he procured two or three
days past the lieness is strong and time seems to hae made ut lile impression on the riginal as
he appeared some years past in Craen Street 93
For years scholars have sought to determine on the bust of Franklin to which West might be referring. In 1962 Sellers,
Franklins ionographer omie the seon half of the leer as no bust from Franklins time on raen treet as then
known to exist. 94 thers hae assume that it as a plaster ast from a terraoa moel by ean-aues aeri mae hen
Franklin as rst in aris in or een the terraoa for the marble itself, 95 an this assumption has been repeate 96
However, Franklin and West knew each other well, and West would have been familiar with the appearance of the younger,
energeti an ynami Franklin The point here is the bust realls Franklins appearane an atue as the painter
speially says as he as hen liing on raen treet some tenty years earlier
Further eiene that the present bust is the same as that eliere to est by hitefoor is foun in leers from ames
Huon Huon the osh geologist bookseller physiian hemial manufaturer an leaer of the Moraian element
in Ameria ha been an intimate frien of Franklins sine the laers arrial in onon in He as also a onant of
eorge III an ueen harloe n May Huon rote to Franklin:
y good old friend hae heard you was at the rilliant feast of the Paris usee on account of the
Peace with my friend Count de Geelin et Co where your Bust y oudon was – does that Bust please
rs ewson and Polly B surely if we were artists in Sculpture could hae thrown into it what no
Stranger eer could 97
Huon referring here to Antoine omte e belin - the Frenh antiuary an anthropologist Freemason an
the founer of the oit Apollonienne or Muse e aris was also making the point that, as very close friends of long
staning he olly Heson an olly Blunt oul ere they sulptors make of him something a stranger oul not 99
93 West to Franklin, 28 April 1782, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (BF85 XXV, 49); quoted in Marks, pp.30-31.
94 Sellers, p. 399.
95 It was understood that West’s compliment on Franklin’s youthfulness rested on the ‘freshness’ of the cast.
96 Hinton, Meighan, Lins, pp. 25.
97 James Hutton to Franklin, 2 March 1784; American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (BF85 XXXI, 99).
98
De Gébelin wrote Le Monde primitif, analysé et compare avec le monde moderne in 9 volumes starting in 1773, which boasted a distinguished list of subscribers including
Louis XVI of France. De Gébelin was a regular at Old Slaughter’s Coffee House, where Franklin’s Club of Honest Whigs met fortnightly. Crane, p. 210
99 Sellers, pp. 306-309; Anne L. Poulet, et al., Jean Antoine Houdon: Sculptor of the Enlightenment, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and London, 2003, p. 250.
57

Fig. 31: Henry Raeburn, James Hutton, c. 1776. Oil on canvas, 49 ¼ x 41 ¼ inches. National Galleries Scotland, Edinburgh (purchased with
the aid of the Art Fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund, 1986, PG 2686)
58

Almost to years later Huon alle on Benjamin est an rote thereaer to Franklin as follos:
saw olly Blunt last Sunday well in Spirits and saw r West the Painter and his Wife e is painting
the ne pieces for the ings ouse or Chapel at Windsor saw there young Trumull who had ust
nished an ecellent Portrait of your acuaintance r Temple thin Trumull will do well saw a
most euisitely ne marle Bust of you at r Wests neer saw a ner or more resemling ou say
in that Bust – e are ery welcome to claim all ye please do not care – Some thing lie what you
said to me in an 1778 A good morrow ear Sir am your most oliged and edient Serant 100
Importantly Huon makes it lear that the bust in ests stuio as marble hih negates suppositions that the bust as
terraoa or plaster In aition to ommenting that it is euisitely ne an that he neer sa a ner or more resembling
Huon implies the intensely emotional impat of the bust an its speaking-likeness ha upon him bringing to min the mans
harater The reolletion Huon ha of Benjamin Franklins remark in may ell be relate to a isit Huon ha mae
to see Franklin traeling to assy on behalf of the ing an ueen in anuary Aer hih a fe ays later Franklin in
a strongly-ore leer ha aresse Huon thus:
y ear ld Friend ou hae een lost y this last war and the ararity with which it has een
carried on not only the goernment and commerce of America and the pulic reenues and priate
wealth arising from that ut what is more you hae lost the esteem respect and aection of all that
great and growing people who consider you at present as the worst and wicedest nation on earth
A piece you may undoutedly otain y dropping all of your pretensions to goern us and y your
superior sill in hucstering negotiation you may possily mae such an adantageous argainto
recoer their respect and aection you must tread ac the steps you hae taen nstead
of honoring and rewarding the American adisors and promoters of this war you should
disgrace themn proposing terms you shouldshow your generosity and therey
demonstrate your goodwill
Peace and friendship will neertheless susist foreer etween r uon and his aectionate friend
BF 101
100 Franklin to James Hutton, 1 February 1778, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia; C.H. Hart, ‘Joseph Wright, American Artist, 1756–1793’, Pennsylvania
Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 32, no. 3 (1908), pp. 320-334.
101 James Hutton to Franklin, 2 May 1782; American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (BF85 XXXI, 99).
59

Fig. 32: James Hutton to Benjamin Franklin, 2 March 1784; American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia (BF85 XXXI, 99)
60

Huons skeptiism of the Houon bust in his earlier leer an his praise for the bust in ests stuio in his seon almost
ertainly onrms the busts ere not one an the same Inee the fat that Huons leer as rien rst only a fe ays
aer est ha reeie hat later Huon oul say as a marble bust means that the bust by Houon oul not be being
iee in aris an in onon at the same time
ysbraks portrayal as this essay has been at pains to set out is by ontrast of a man in the full igor of life Franklin here
emboies eatly hat the poet illiam orsorth epresse of another marble egy that of Franklins hero ir Isaa
Neton in the full-length gure by ouis-Franois oubilia Trinity ollege ambrige nglan In The
Prelude the epi poem of his life the poet rote of the statue of the great sientist as he remembere it as an
unergrauate as it stoo an still oes in his ollege at ambrige:
The marble index of a mind for ever
Voyaging through strange seas of Thought,
alone. 102
ysbraks bust too presents the marble ine of a min the enlightene aspiration of mi-eighteenth entury
sulptors an their siers ess anahronistially perhaps oul be to reall Hogarths Analysis of Beauty hih pre
ates orsorth by y years in hih the painter elare the fae is the ine of the min
102 Begun in 1796, and first fragmentarily published in 1805, The Prelude was not published in its entirety until after the poet’s death in 1850; quoted in Baker, and
providing the title to his in-depth study of the work of L-F Roubiliac in context.
103
William Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty, London 1753, p. 72.
61

Fig. 33: Jean Antoine Houdon (1741-1828), Benjamin Franklin, 1779. Marble. h. 21 inches. Philadelphia Museum of Art (125 th Anniversary
Acquisition, 1996-162-1)
62

Appendix A: Michael Rysbrack, The Reverend John Palmer, c. 1732. Terracotta with original painted surface, h. 24
inches. Sotheby’s London, July 14, 2010, lot 125.
Appendix B: Michael Rysbrack, Alexander Pope, c. 1730. Marble, h. 52 cm., National
Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 5854)
63

Appendix C: Benjamin Wilson (1721-1788), Self-Portrait, 1749. Etching, 8 3/8 x 6 5/8 inches. Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia (1985-52-22564)
64

Appendix D: J. B. Binon, Bust of John Adams, 1818-1820, plaster, h. 25 in., Boston Athenaeum, Boston Mass. (Gift
of the artist 1819)
Appendix E: Ottavio Giovannozzi after Giuseppe Ceracchi (1751-1801), John Jay, 1827. Marble. John Jay
Homestead, Katonah, New York
65

Appendix F: John Singleton Copley (1738-1815), Henry Laurens, 1782. Oil on canvas, 54.1 x 40.6 in. National Portrait
Gallery, Washington D. C.
66

Appendix G: John Trumbull (1756-1843), Surrender of General Burgoyne, 1821. Oil on canvas, 12 x 18 ft. Rotunda, United States
Capital, Washington D.C.
Appendix H: Benjamin West (1738-1820), Self-portrait, c. 1776. Oil on canvas, 29 13/16 x 24 13/16 inches. National Gallery of
Art, Washington D.C. (Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1942.8.39)
67

Appendix I: After Jean-Jacques Caffieri (1725-1792), Benjamin Franklin, 1777. Marble, h. 25 inches, The Peabody Art
Collection, Maryland (MSA SC 4680-20-0029)
68

William Temple Franklin Papers, American
Philosophical Society, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
Benjamin Franklin Papers, American Philosophical
Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
e of the Historian Milestones: -.” U.S.
epartment of tate. hps:historystatego
milestones- aesse uly
Allan an ohn Abbo The Virtuoso Tribe of
Arts & Sciences: Studies in the Eighteenth-
Century Work and Membership of the London
Society of Arts Athens niersity of eorgia
ress
Atiyah Mihael Benjamin Franklin an the inburgh
nlightenment Proceedings of the American
Philosophical Society ol No
eember : -
Baker Malolm ulpture for allaian Interiors in
Michael Rysbrack, Sculptor 1694-1770.
atharine ustae e Bristol: ity of Bristol
Museum an Art allery : -
Baker Malolm The Marble Index: Roubiliac and
Sculptural Portraiture in Eighteenth Century
Britain Ne Haen an onon: ale
niersity ress
Balerston oron atalogue note to John Palmer
(1612-79) Rector of Ecton othebys onon
uly lot
Bell hiiel Franklins apers an the papers of
Benjamin Franklin Pennsylvania History
Journal ol II No anuary : -
ohen oger eie of H Brans The Life and
Times of Benjamin Franklin, posted on
Noember
rane The lub of Honest higs: Friens of
iene an iberty William and Mary
Quarterly, : -
saile A The Art of John Michael Rysbrack in
Terracoa onon pink on t
ustae atharine Michael Rysbrack Sculptor 1694-
1770, ehib at Bristol ity of Bristol
Museum an Art allery
ustae atharine obert Adam, Charles-
ouis lrisseau Mihael ysbrak and the
Hopetoun himneypiee Burlington
Magazine Noember : -
ustae atharine The olitis of the ast toe
an the eelopment of the Historial ortrait
Bust Apollo uly pp -
ustae atharine ysbrak ohn Mihael -
ford ictionary of National
Biography for for niersity ress
ustae atharine A lae full of rih an inustrious
eople Art an atronage in Bristol in the rst
half of the th entury British Art ournal,
ol II no pringummer : -
ustae atharine The ey is oke: Hogarth
ysbrak an the Founling Hospital British
Art Journal Autumn : -
ustae atharine Brea an ermons: History in the
ubli Aknolegement of Iniiual ies
in Merri an F reenare Public Sculpture
of Bristol ubli ulpture of Britain series ol
ierpool ierpool niersity ress for the
ubli Monuments an ulpture Assoiation
: ii-l
Fo A The reat House of Benjamin est: Family
orkshop an Ientity in ate eorgian
nglan h thesis niersity of Marylan
ibbs ames A Book of Architecture, Containing
Designs of Buildings and Ornaments. onon:
illiam Boyer
ooin eorge Benjamin Franklin in London, the
British ife of Americas Founding Father
onon eienfel Niolson
Hamilton ames A Strange Business: Making Art and
oney in Nineteenth-Century Britain, onon
Atlanti Books Ne ork egasus Books
Hart harles Henry An riginal ortrait of otor
Franklin ainte by oseph right
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and
Biography ol No : -
Haerstok eber The stuio an olletion of the
Amerian aphael: Benjamin est A
- h thesis niersity of
lasgo
Heathote raham Nely isoere Bust of Ben
Franklin pete to Feth
Assoiate ress February
Heins A The Whitefoord Papers for
larenon ress
Hinton ak Anre ins an Melissa Meighan
Encountering Genius: oudons Portraits of
Benjamin Franklin, Ne Haen: ale niersity
ress
Isaason alter Benjamin Franklin: An American Life,
Ne ork imon huster,
69

Labaree, Leonard and W. B. Wilcox (eds), The Papers of
Benjamin Franklin, 24 volumes to date, New
Haven, Yale University Press, 1959-84.
iersige ysbraks eputation an ritial
Fortunes’, in Eustace, et al., Michael Rysbrack
Sculptor 1694-1770, ehib at Bristol ity of
Bristol Museum and Art Gallery 1982: 42-48.
Marks, Arthur S., 'Benjamin West and the American
eolution American Art Journal, vol. 6
(1974): 15-35.
Morgan, Edmund S., Benjamin Franklin, New Haven,
Yale University Press, 2002.
Merri ouglas an Franis reenare Public
Sculpture of Bristol ubli ulpture of Britain
ierpool ierpool niersity ress for the
ubli Monuments an ulpture Assoiation
2010.
Poulet, Anne L. et al, Jean Antoine Houdon: Sculptor of
the Enlightenment ehib at National
allery of Art ashington
esner Nikolaus an Briget herry e
Northamptonshire: Buildings of England series,
New Haven, Yale University Press, 2002.
Priestley, Joseph, History and Present State of
Electricity, onon osley
eif ita Autions New York Times. February 14,
1986.
Roscoe, Ingrid, Emma Hardy and M. G. Sullivan, A
Biographical ictionary of Sculptors in Britain
1660-1851, New Haven and London, Yale
University Press, 2009.
hi tay A Great mproisation: Franlin France
and the Birth of America, New York, Henry Holt
an ompany
ellers harles oleman Benjamin Franklin in
Portraiture, New Haven, Yale University Press,
1962.
Smith, Albert Henry, The Writings of Benamin Franlin,
onon Mamillan o
Solis-ohen ita lest Franklin Bust to be ol in
London’, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 15,
1986.
olis ohen ita olletors of Ameriana hop in
London’, aine Antiue igest, September
2014.
Uglow, Jenny, Hogarth, A Life and a World, London,
Faber and Faber 1997.
Wagner, Gillian, Thomas Coram, Gent., Woodbridge,
Boydell Press, 2004.
Walpole, Horace, Anecdotes of Painting in England
London, J. Edwards, 1798.
Webb, M.I., Michael Rysbrack Sculptor, London,
ountry ife
70

Benjamin Franklin by Michael Rysbrack.
Above image and those on pages 9,10,12,14,16,18, 56 by Tom Powel Imaging