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About the Artwork
Scholars debate whether Nini met Benjamin Franklin personally or based the nine versions of his portrait on drawings by artist Thomas Walpole (British, 1755-1840). In this particular cast, Nini presents Franklin with a fur hat, which may be an allusion to French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, suggesting a comparison between the inventor and the philosopher and their roles in revolutionary politics on both sides of the Atlantic. Nini copied Franklin's fur hat from a portrait of Rousseau by Allan Ramsay (Scottish, 1713-1784). The small crest below Franklin's left shoulder shows a bolt of lightning striking an iron bar held by a hand, a reference to Franklin's discovery of the lightning rod and electricity.
Inscriptions
inscribed along the circumference: B. FRANKLIN. AMERICAIN; inscribed below: NINI F 1777 [with coat-of-arms].
Exhibition history
The European Vision of America. National Gallery of Art (December 7, 1975-February 15, 1976); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 5-August 8, 1976); Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France (September 17, 1976-January 3, 1977). Rococo, Revolution, Restoration. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-September 24, 1989).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Giovanni Battista Nini (Italian, 1717–1786)
- Date
- 1777
- Medium
- terracotta
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 11.4 cm (4 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Bequest of James Parmelee
- Accession no.
- 1940.578
Provenance
James Parmelee (Washington, DC), upon his death, held in trust by the estate. Estate of James Parmelee, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1940.
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00010786
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