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
- 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: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer
- Francis Scott Key: Politics and Government\Patriot
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2016.22
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm448eb9d76-b097-40b2-aa45-d00f969888db
