Medallion 1776 - 1883

This bronze medallion, by Augustin Dupré, immortalizes the likeness of Benjamin Franklin. As an envoy to France during the American Revolution, Franklin was not just a diplomat, but a symbol of the Enlightenment ideals taking root in the new world. Consider how Dupré, working within the French artistic tradition, captures Franklin, the American everyman. The medallion flattens and monumentalizes him, recasting the revolutionary as an iconic figure. It mirrors the way Franklin himself cultivated his image—a printer and inventor who rose to prominence through intellect and civic virtue. But what does it mean to cast a revolutionary in bronze? This work complicates notions of heroism and power. While it memorializes Franklin, it also raises questions about who gets remembered and how. The sheen of bronze can feel both celebratory and subtly critical. It asks us to consider who shapes history and whose stories endure.