
Read the visual description
The image depicts a portrait of a man from the chest up. He is positioned facing slightly to the left, with a direct, level gaze. The man has a distinguished face with a prominent forehead and a gentle expression. His hair is long and gray, curling slightly around the shoulders. He is wearing a red-brown coat with a fur-trimmed collar and a white cravat peeking from underneath. The background is a neutral dark tone, with an oval border framing the portrait against a lighter rectangle that fills the rest of the image. There is text below the image identifying the person as Benjamin Franklin, with additional text in a decorative script style.
National Gallery of Art · Print
Benjamin Franklin
Jean-François Janinet and Joseph Siffred Duplessis
- Date
- 1789
- Medium
- color aquatint
- Dimensions
- plate: 41 x 31.5 cm (16 1/8 x 12 3/8 in.) sheet: 46.5 x 33.3 cm (18 5/16 x 13 1/8 in.)
- Classification
- Accession number
- 1955.4.19
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. W. Murray Crane
- Time span
- 1776 to 1800
- Department
- CG-E
Subjects and terms
- French
- Costume
- Portrait
- Face
- Man
NGA object ID 43339. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.