Object Details
- Artist
- Rembrandt Peale, 22 Feb 1778 - 3 Oct 1860
- Sitter
- Francis Scott Key, 1779 - 1843
- Exhibition Label
- Born Frederick County, Maryland
- This painting was made when Francis Scott Key and the artist Rembrandt Peale were both in their late teens. Key would go on to become a prominent Georgetown lawyer. On September 13, 1814, when the War of 1812 (1812–15) was entering its third year, Key traveled to Baltimore to try to negotiate the release of a hostage. That night, he watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The next morning, when he saw the fort’s American flag still flying, he wrote a poem that was first published as “Defence of Fort M’Henry” and set to a popular British tune. His song was subsequently renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
- During Key’s lifetime, abolitionists noted the irony of a song about “the land of the free” written by a staunch advocate of slavery with narrow views of freedom. More than a century later, in 1931, Congress adopted it as the national anthem.
- Nacido en Frederick County, Maryland
- Esta pintura se realizó cuando Francis Scott Key y el artista Rembrandt Peale eran aún adolescentes. El primero llegó a ser un prominente abogado en Georgetown. El 13 de septiembre de 1814, cuando la Guerra de 1812 (1812–15) entraba en su tercer año, Key viajó a Baltimore para negociar la libertad de un rehén. Esa noche fue testigo del bombardeo del Fuerte McHenry. A la mañana siguiente, al ver que la bandera estadounidense aún ondeaba, escribió un poema publicado inicialmente como “Defensa del Fuerte M’Henry” y adaptado a una tonada popular inglesa. Luego recibiría el título de “La bandera estrellada”.
- En vida de Key, los abolicionistas no pasaron por alto la ironía de que un acérrimo defensor de la esclavitud, con una visión estrecha de la libertad, hubiera escrito una canción a “la tierra de los libres”. Pasado más de un siglo, en 1931, el Congreso la adoptó como himno nacional.
- Provenance
- The sitter; Mary Alicia Lloyd Nevins Key Pendleton, his daughter, Jane Francis Pendleton Brice (Mrs. Arthur Tilghman Brice, d. 1950), her daughter; Colonel Arthur Tilghman Brice II, 1892-1973, her son; Alice Key Pendleton Brice Joline (Mrs. John Forsyth Joline, Jr., d. 1983), his sister; Laurence Turnbull Joline, her son; Dorothy Doe Joline, Long Island, New York, his wife and the present owner
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; funded with support from the Secretary and the Smithsonian National Board and Chapter I - Baltimore, Maryland, The Colonial Dames of America, the Elizabeth Welsh Young Legacy Fund
- c. 1796
- Object number
- NPG.2016.22
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Frame: 85.7 × 76.2 cm (33 3/4 × 30")
- Stretcher: 74 × 63.8 × 3 cm (29 1/8 × 25 1/8 × 1 3/16")
- Place
- United States\Maryland\Anne Arundel\Annapolis
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
- On View
- NPG, East Gallery 136
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Interior
- Francis Scott Key: Male
- Francis Scott Key: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer
- Francis Scott Key: Politics and Government\Patriot
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2016.22
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm448eb9d76-b097-40b2-aa45-d00f969888db
