Snapshots of the Past

Benjamin Franklin engraved portrait in oval frame – Historic Photograph Print

Benjamin Franklin engraved portrait in oval frame — historic image
Benjamin Franklin engraved portrait in oval frame. Historic image from the Presidents collection.

(Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this historic image of Benjamin Franklin engraved portrait in oval frame. It comes from the Snapshots of the Past collection, curated over 25 years for its historical value.

The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. A conversation-starting piece for home, office, or as a meaningful gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

Benjamin Franklin engraved portrait in oval frame

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Franklin appears here as an engraved likeness set within an oval frame, a format engravers favored in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries for portraits of statesmen and scientists. Franklin was never a president, so his place on this board reflects how Americans later grouped him with the nation's founding leaders, and he is widely remembered as a printer, inventor, diplomat and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Oval-framed engravings like this one were often reproduced in books, almanacs and broadsides, which helped make his face familiar to readers across the young republic. Look closely at the fine cross-hatched lines, which show how engravers built up tone and shadow without the benefit of photography.

Original scan2,025 × 2,950 px · prints to 7 × 10 in at 300 dpi
Reference09852u

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Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.

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