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Benjamin Franklin

Max Rosenthal

1901

ink

paper

From the collection of National Gallery of Art

Early Modern Portrait Benjamin Franklin

Dominant colour

Benjamin Franklin is a 1901 ink by Max Rosenthal, depicting Benjamin Franklin, held at National Gallery of Art.

Who painted this?: Max Rosenthal
When & what style?: 1901
Where can I see it?: National Gallery of Art

About this work

This painting shows Benjamin Franklin's face in detail. He's wearing glasses and a gentle expression. The artist used a color mezzotint technique to create this portrait, which is a process that involves engraving a metal plate to produce a lot of copies, and it's interesting because it was made in 1901, a time when this technique was not as common as it was in the past. You can learn more about this technique by looking into chiaroscuro.