Miniature portrait of Benjamin Franklin (Dixon), 1757
Photo Courtesy of Boston...
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Photo Courtesy of Boston Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, Mass.)

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Franklin is depicted in informal dress: wearing a white turban, purple banyan, and white shirt. The background is stippled dark gray. The initials of the artist, C.D., are visible at the center right, near the simple gold frame. The image is set in a gold case to be worn as a pendant. The paper backing of the ivory bears the word "Franklin" in pencil. On a piece of cardboard in the back of the case, in the same hand, is the full name "Dr. Benjamin Franklin."

The image was painted while Franklin was in London, during a period in which he was intermittently ill. It was intended for his sister, Jane Mecom, and sent to her in care of his wife on January 21, 1758, according to correspondence of that date. This miniature portrait was a gift of Franklin Greene Balche.

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