Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)—statesman, scientist, patriot, and philosopher—was a celebrity in his lifetime. He was so popular that many people, both in America and abroad, wanted to own likenesses of him. His portraits were realized as sculptures, paintings, prints, and miniatures.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) owns a marble bust of this Founding Father by French neoclassical sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon that it cites as “the most powerful and fully realized version of the best-known portrait of Franklin.” Indeed, Houdon, who carved exquisite portraits of leading European figures from royals such as Catherine II of Russia to intellectuals including Voltaire, created a series of portrait busts of early American leaders that are part of the country’s national consciousness.
