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The present portrait is an autograph repetition with some possible studio participation of one of the first and most important paintings made by a French artist after Franklin's arrival in Europe, the portrait by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis, exhibited in the Salon of 1779. That version, signed and dated 1778 is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Franklin's fame remained so significant in Europe that Duplessis continued to paint the image even after the American's death; Duplessis even exhibited another Portrait of Franklin in the Salon of 1801.
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