Benjamin Franklin (1860)

by Joseph A. Bailly (1825 - 1883)

Photo Caption: Photo Caitlin Martin © 2014 for the Association for Public Art
  • Title

    Benjamin Franklin

  • Artist

    Joseph A. Bailly (1825 - 1883)

  • Year

    1860; relocated 1978

  • Location

    Interior of the Public Ledger Building, 6th and Chestnut Streets

  • Medium

    Marble

  • Dimensions

    Height 10' 6" (base 2'9")

  • Themes

    Benjamin Franklins

Owned by Property Owner

At A Glance

  • Originally sited at the exterior northeast corner of the Public Ledger Building

  • A tribute to Franklin’s activities as a journalist and a statesman

  • Artist Joseph Bailly was originally trained as a furniture wood carver

Joseph A. Bailly’s stone and marble Benjamin Franklin was originally sited at the exterior northeast corner of the Public Ledger Building, watching over the State House – a tribute to Franklin’s activities as a journalist and a statesman. In 1978, the sculpture was moved to the interior of the Public Ledger Building where it stands today. Bailly settled in Philadelphia in 1850 and taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Trained as a furniture wood carver with studies at the French Institute, he sculpted the marble George Washington in Philadelphia City Hall’s Conversation Hall, as well as the Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon at the Fairmount Park Horticulture Center.

Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).

This artwork is part of the Around Old City tour

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