BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. NE A BOSTON LE 17 JANVIER 1706. ERIPUIT COELO FULMEN SCEPTRUM QUE TYRANNIS.
Anne Rosalie Filleul
Benjamin Franklin. Ne a Boston le 17 Janvier 1706. Eripuit coelo fulmen sceptrum que tyrannis.
Engraving, Undated, c. 1785.
Image size 13 1/4 x 9 5/16" (33.8 x 23.6 cm?.
Good condition save for somewhat tight margins and overall time-toning. LOCATION: New York City
Inventory Number: 86931
Price: $1,250.00 Publisher : Published in Paris. The print is based on a portrait painted by Anne Rosalie Filleu, a neighbor of Franklin's while he was in Paris. It was engraved by Louis Jacques Cathelin (1738-1804), a French engraver and draughtsman. Cathelin exhibited at the Royal Academy’s Salon of 1779, where Benjamin Franklin works were abundant, including the Duplessis oil portrait and Houdon terra cotta bust.
In this print, Franklin is depicted seated, shown from the waist up, and facing forward. His hair is at his shoulders and he is dressed in a very casual outfit, his shirt open at the neck with a fur-trimmed dressing gown. He gestures with his right hand to a map on the table of Philadelphia. On the opposite side of the map are his spectacles. Turgot’s Latin “Eripuit coelo fulmen sceptrumque tirannis” is inscribed below the portrait. In English, it translates to “He seized lightning from the heavens and the scepter from tyrants”. At bottom center, the publication line reads“ A Paris chez M. Bouquet rue Comtesse d’ Artois vis-avis celle Mauconseil.” Blaise Bouquet was Madame Filleul's father. 18th-19th Century Subjects , Portraits , Revolutionary War Figures