''Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences, or The Genius of America Encouraging the Emancipation of the Blacks'' (1792) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the American artist Samuel Jennings. Held in the permanent collection of the

Library Company of Philadelphia The Library Company of Philadelphia (LCP) is a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia. Founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin as a library, the Library Company of Philadelphia has accumulated one of the most significant collections of hist ...

, this work is the earliest known American painting promoting

abolitionism in the United States In the United States, abolitionism, the movement that sought to end slavery in the country, was active from the late colonial era until the American Civil War, the end of which brought about the abolition of American slavery through the Thi ...

Background and versions

The Library Company of Philadelphia, a private

lending library A lending library is a library from which books and other media are lent out. The major classifications are endowed libraries, institutional libraries (the most diverse), public libraries, and subscription libraries. It may also refer to a librar ...

founded by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

in the mid-18th century, commissioned Jennings (an ex-Philadelphian relocated to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

) to create a work depicting "the figure of Liberty (with her cap and proper Insignia) displaying the arts" as a representation of slavery and a symbol of the abolitionist movement. The library records the painting as having been given to it by the artist in March 1792, shortly after its completion in London. Jennings completed two versions of the painting, both virtually identical save for size and composition. The larger version is oil on canvas and held by the Library Company of Philadelphia, while the smaller and lesser known version is oil on linen and held by

Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Pronounced “winter-tour," Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana in the United States. The museum and estate were the home of ...

. The other major difference is that the smaller painting features the

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

on a shield among the symbolic objects surrounding the figure of Liberty. The smaller version was intended to serve as the basis for prints (never produced) meant for sale in Britain. The work is the earliest known anti-slavery painting by an American artist and reflect increasingly abolitionist sympathies of Philadelphia's

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

leaders and institutions.

Description

Jennings's allegory shows a blond,

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

personification of Liberty, or according to the full title, personification of America wearing a white gown and with a liberty cap atop a pike or spear. She places books (the catalog of the Library Company, and two others, labeled "philosophy" and "agriculture") on top of a pedestal. Looking on is a group of two

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

men, a woman, and a child (

freed slaves A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), emancipation (granted freedom a ...

), whose comparatively diminutive size and clasped hands, bows, and other gestures evoke humility and gratitude. Surrounding the five figures, in the foreground, are various symbols of knowledge and learning: a bust (possibly of Henry Thornton), a scroll (labeled "geometry"), a paper sketch of columns (architecture); a globe (geography), a lyre and sheet music (music), and a paper with escutcheons on it (history and heraldry). In the background, freed slaves are dancing and celebrating around a

liberty pole A liberty pole is a wooden pole, or sometimes spear or lance, surmounted by a "cap of liberty", mostly of the Phrygian cap. The symbol originated in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar by a group of R ...

as one plays the banjo; behind them are ships (symbolizing commerce) on a body of water.

References

{{authority control 1792 paintings Abolitionism in the United States Allegorical paintings by American artists Books in art Dance in art Liberty symbols Musical instruments in art Paintings of African-Americans Paintings in Philadelphia Maps in art Ships in art Works about American slavery Collections of the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library