To the Genius of Franklin

Marguerite Gérard

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is the largest print made by Gérard, Fragonard’s seventeen-year-old sister-in-law, who would go on to become a successful painter. As part of her artistic training Fragonard taught her the technique of etching. Over the course of several months in 1778, she made five prints all based on drawings by her brother-in-law, culminating in this allegorical portrait of Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, a popular figure in Paris, is shown under the protective shield of Minerva, instructing Mars to banish the enemies of America, who sits leaning against his knee.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art