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, as the War of 1812 embarked on its third year, Francis Scott Key an established Georgetown lawyer, traveled to Baltimore to negotiate the release of a hostage. Upon boarding a ship in the city’s harbor, he was detained by British forces during the bombardment of Fort McHenry, which lasted into the night. The next morning, Key saw the fort’s American flag had not been removed. Inspired by the sight, he wrote the poem “Defence of Fort M‘Henry,” which was set to a British tune and subsequently renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson began playing the song at official events, and in 1931, Congress adapted it as the national anthem.

This painting was made when Key and the artist Rembrandt Peale were young men. Key graduated from college in 1796, and Peale, a son of the renowned Philadelphia artist Charles Willson Peale, had recently shadowed his father during a portrait session with George Washington.

Nacido en el Condado de Frederick, Maryland

El 13 de septiembre de 1814, cuando la Guerra de 1812 entraba en su tercer año, Francis Scott Key, un reconocido abogado de Georgetown, viajó a Baltimore a negociar la liberación de un rehén. Al abordar un barco en el puerto de la ciudad, fue detenido por fuerzas británicas durante el bombardeo del Fuerte Mc Henry, que continuó hasta entrada la noche. A la mañana siguiente, Key vio que en el fuerte todavía ondeaba la bandera estadounidense. Inspirado por esta imagen, escribió el poema “La defensa del Fuerte M’Henry”, el cual se musicalizó usando una tonada británica y luego recibió el nuevo título de “The Star-Spangled Banner” (La bandera tachonada de estrellas). En 1916, el presidente Woodrow Wilson empezó a hacer tocar la canción en actos oficiales, y en 1931 el Congreso la adoptó como himno nacional.

Esta pintura se hizo cuando Key y el artista Rembrandt Peale eran ambos jóvenes. Key terminó su educación universitaria en 1796; Peale, hijo del renombrado artista de Filadelfia Charles Willson Peale, había acompañado a su padre recientemente en una sesión para pintar del natural a George Washington.

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

Exhibition

American Origins

On View

NPG, East Gallery 142

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

Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

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