Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, 1938

Benjamin Franklin National Memorial, 1938
Philadelphia, PA

Marble; 20' high. Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA.

The sculptor, James Earle Fraser (1876 – 1953), describes his work:

I have conceived of Franklin as a massive figure, tranquil in body, with latent power in his hands, but with an inquisitive expression in the movement of his head and with the alertness of his eyes, ready to turn the full force of his keen mind on any problem that concerned life. I chose to depict him in the fullness of his life, wise with experience, but still strong in his curiosity in the future.

The First Congress faced a unique challenge, and those congressmen and senators who gathered in New York in the spring of 1789 were awed by what lay ahead of them. Not only would members of the Congress have to pass some promised amendments to the new Constitution, but they would have to fill out the bare framework of a government that the Philadelphia Convention had created, including the organization of the executive and judicial departments. Some therefore saw the First Congress as something in the nature of a second constitutional convention.

— Gordon S. Wood
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 (2009)