Over the course of 1778, Jean-Honoré Fragonard and his young student (and sister-in-law) Marguerite Gérard created a group of nine etchings. Gérard quickly mastered the medium of etching, and by the end of the year, the 17-year-old completed her last and most ambitious etching based on one of Fragonard’s brown wash and black chalk drawings (please see image below). In her etched interpretation of Fragonard’s allegorical composition, Gérard transformed the features of the seated man to those of the aging Benjamin Franklin. Such a change enabled her to capitalize upon the current popularity of this contemporary political figure as well as French support of the American Revolution.