Francis Scott Key

Object Details

Artist

Rembrandt Peale, 22 Feb 1778 - 3 Oct 1860

Sitter

Francis Scott Key, 1779 - 1843

Exhibition Label

Born Frederick County, Maryland

On September 13, 1814, when the War of 1812 (1812–15) was entering its third year, the Georgetown lawyer Francis Scott Key traveled to Baltimore to try to negotiate the release of a hostage. That night, Key—a staunch anti-abolitionist who enslaved people—watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The next morning, when he saw that the fort’s American flag had not been removed, he wrote a poem that was first published as “Defense of Fort M’Henry” and set to a popular British tune. His song was subsequently renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and more than a century later, in 1931, Congress adopted it as the national anthem.

During Key’s lifetime, abolitionists recognized that the line “the land of the free” was penned by an advocate of slavery with narrow views of freedom. Professional athletes, including Colin Kaepernick, have amplified this contradiction by “taking a knee” during the national anthem to protest systemic racism today.

Nacido en Frederick County, Maryland

El 13 de septiembre de 1814, cuando la Guerra de 1812 (1812–15) entraba en su tercer año, Francis Scott Key, abogado de Georgetown, viajó a Baltimore para negociar la libertad de un rehén. Esa noche, Key —antiabolicionista acérrimo con sirvientes esclavizados— observó el ataque al Fuerte McHenry. A la mañana siguiente, cuando vio que la bandera de EE.UU. aún ondeaba, escribió un poema publicado inicialmente como “Defensa del Fuerte M’Henry”, con música de una tonada popular inglesa. Su canción recibió luego el nombre de “La bandera estrellada” y pasado más de un siglo, en 1931, el Congreso la adoptó como himno nacional.

En vida de Key, los abolicionistas ya reconocían que el verso “la tierra de los libres” había sido escrito por un defensor de la esclavitud con una idea muy estrecha de la libertad. Atletas profesionales como Colin Kaepernick han subrayado esta contradicción hincando la rodilla durante el himno nacional para protestar contra el racismo sistémico actual.

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

2022 Rehang of 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: Literature\Writer

Francis Scott Key: Politics and Government\Patriot

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2016.22

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm43addb362-1cc6-402f-930e-2c94fd097fe9