Johann Georg Lorenz Rugendas I
Benjamin Franklin, Né à Boston, dans la nouvelle Angleterre le 17 Janvier 1706

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Artist Johann Georg Lorenz Rugendas IGerman, 1730–1799

Artistafter Charles-Nicolas Cochin the YoungerFrench, 1715–1790

CultureGerman

Titles

Benjamin Franklin, Né à Boston, dans la nouvelle Angleterre le 17 Janvier 1706

Date1780

Printed inAugsburg, Germany

MediumMezzotint on laid paper

DimensionsPlate: 13 5/16 × 8 7/8 in. (33.9 × 22.5 cm)
Sheet: 18 1/8 × 12 1/8 in. (46 × 30.8 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, Museum purchase funded by Leslie and Brad Bucher at "One Great Night in November, 2012"

Object numberB.2013.7

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

PRINTS

DescriptionBenjamin Franklin arrived in France in December 1776 as a commissioner representing the newly independent United States. Appointed by the Continental Congress, he was on a secret mission to secure French aid for the American cause. Within weeks of his arrival, Charles-Nicolas Cochin engraved a portrait that depicted Franklin wearing in his audacious fur cap. Overnight this image became a sensation across the Continent, attracting a host of imitators including the Augsburg engraver, Johann Georg Lorenz Rugendas. Benjamin Franklin, more than any other American of his age, was a phenomenon abroad. Franklin’s sensational costume further dramatized his role as envoy from the New World to the Old, creating an image of tremendous value to his purpose. John Adams testified to the intensity of this idolization, noting that Franklin’s name was known throughout European society, so much so that there was scarcely a soul “who did not consider him a friend to human kind.”
Provenance[The Old Print Shop, Inc., New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2022.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Recto: Inscribed in printed ink, below plate, center: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. / Né á Boſton, dans la nouvelle Angleterre le 17. Januvier 1706. / Joh: Lorenz Rugendas Sculp. et excud. Aug. Wind.
Recto: Inscribed in graphite, below plate, left bottom edge: 231 / 3
Recto: Inscribed in graphite, below plate, right bottom edge: $5000 — / 51194-1

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