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Benjamin Franklin

Joseph Duplessisc. 1785

Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
Washington, D.C., United States

During his time, Benjamin Franklin was the most famous American in the world. He remains highly visible today as the face on the $100 bill; this portrait was selected as the basis for that engraving in 1995.

Franklin represented colonial interests in England from 1757 to 1775. Upon his return, he was unani-mously elected to represent Pennsylvania at the Second Continental Congress. Behind him was
a lifetime of achievement as a printer, an unsur-passed author of wit and wisdom, an inventor, and a scientist. Ahead were his roles as a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a member of the Constitutional Convention. In between was his tri-umph as a diplomat in France (1776–85), where this portrait was commissioned by Madame Brillon de Jouy. In a letter, she praised Franklin for his sound moral teaching and lively imagination but found his “droll roguishness” most endearing.

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  • Title: Benjamin Franklin
  • Creator: Joseph Siffred Duplessis
  • Date Created: c. 1785
  • Physical Dimensions: w59.7 x h72.4 x d3.8 cm (Stretcher)
  • Type: Oil on canvas
  • Rights: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
  • External Link: https://npg.si.edu/portraits
  • Classification: Painting
Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

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