Colonel Arnold.

Dateca. 1776

Engraver Johann Lorenz Rugendas (1775 - 1826)

Publisher Johann Lorenz Rugendas (1775 - 1826)

OriginEngland, London

MediumMezzotint

DimensionsOverall: 18 1/4 × 12 1/4in. (46.4 × 31.1cm) Other (Plate): 13 1/2 × 8 7/8in. (34.3 × 22.5cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1976-25

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "Colonel Arnold./ Who Commanded the Provincial Troops sent against QUEBEC, through the Wilderness/ of Canada and was Woundet in Storming that City, under General Montgomery./ Joh. Lorenz Rugendas Sculps. et excudit Aug. Vind."
Label TextThis print of Benedict Arnold from 1776 is one of the most famous depictions of the leader despite the fact that he never sat for it. The colonel, and later defector, stands with one hand on his breast. The portrait is part of a fourteen piece collection of American military leaders during the eighteenth century. It is inscribed with the name Thomas Hart as the publisher. This is a pseudonym thought to have been used by the British printers Robert Sayer and John Bennett, who were likely the actual publishers of the collection. Other pseudonyms used in this collection are C. Shepherd and John Morris. The portraits contained in this collection depict several other prominent leaders in America, including two each of George Washinton and John Hancock. Despite “General Warrants” allowing the crown to issue search and seizure for libelous products being outlawed in 1766, the use of pseudonyms was the best way for artists to avoid backlash. Aware of market demands for current event media, Bennett and Sayer quickly produced this collection for profit. These prints did not depict the leaders' likenesses accurately but their source material made them appealing to British who were interested in American affairs with the political and military conflict of the revolutionary war beginning. Reproductions of these prints in German and French suggest that British and Americans were not the only consumers of these portraits.(1)

Emily (Amy) Torbert, “Dissolving the Bonds: Robert Sayer and John Bennett, Print Publishers in an Age of Revolution.,” PhD diss. (University of Delaware, 2017), 286-287.
ProvenanceBefore 1976, Sotheby's Park-Bernet (New York, NY); 1976-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).