"FRANCKLIN" [sic]. MEZZOTINT BUST PORTRAIT OF A BESPECTACLED BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, WEARING A GREY BUTTONED COAT AND ANGLED SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT, A SMALL SMILE ON HIS FACE

Uncolored oval bust portrait of a bespectacled Benjamin Franklin. 8-1/4" x 9-3/4", on a 10-1/2" x 13-3/4" sheet. Portrait surrounded by a black oval border. The portrait is captioned "Francklin." Directly beneath the oval border in small type is printed "Vanloo Pinxt" to the left and "P.M. Alex Sculpt" to the right. Very Good. According to Sellers's BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN PORTRAITURE, the engraving was done after an original portrait by the famed French painter, Charles Philippe Vanloo, in which Franklin was wearing fur-trimmed costume. The original portrait was painted while Franklin resided in Paris, a "life portrait" dated between 1777 and 1785, and is now in the collection of the American Philosophical Society, which was founded by Franklin. Sellers discusses our print: "the substitution a simple gray coat for the fur-trimmed costume of the original was undoubtedly in deference to the revolutionary feeling." It is one of a series of portraits begun in July 1790 and finished in September 1797. The 'Francklin' was exhibited in 1795, so the estimated date of the portrait is between July 1790 and 1795. This print was engraved after Vanloo's portrait by the noted French engraver, Pierre-Michel Alix, who was known for his portraits of leading French citizens and prominent personalities. [Sellers, Charles Coleman: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IN PORTRAITURE, Yale University Press: 1962, pp. 393-394.] Charles Philippe Amedee Vanloo [1715 -1795] was the member of a Flemish family of painters that settled in France. He was known for painting landscapes and portraits, and he had an affinity for scientific subjects. Pierre-Michel Alix [1762-1817] was a French engraver and printmaker, specializing in multiple-platecolor printing. He studied under Jacques-Philippe Le Bas and was best known for his portraits of notable figures during the French Revolution and First French Empire.…