Dennis Lyall (American, B. 1946) "Benjamin Franklin" Signed and dated lower right. Original Oil painting on Canvas. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original painting which was published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for The Signers of the Constitution Collection issued on September 17, 1987. Benjamin Franklin was the oldest signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Born in 1706 in Boston, he was the son of a soap and candlemaker. A self-made man, Franklin received some formal education, but was principally self-taught. He won international renown as a printer/publisher, author, philosopher, scientist, inventor and philanthropist. At the age of eighty-one, he represented Pennsylvania at the time of the Convention. If Frankin alone had been responsible for writing the United States Constitution, some things would have been different. He would have placed the executive power of the government in the hands of a council of several men, rather than in a single president, and he opposed the payment of salaries to executives of the new government. Franklin believed, however, in the necessity of compromise. In fact, when the Convention seemed to be near the point of breaking up, Franklin made a short speech imploring the delegates to ask for Divine guidance. Because of the high regard in which he was held, his name on the Constitution was a major factor in winning its ratification by the states. At the age of eighty-four, Benjamin Franklin died at his home in Philadelphia. Image Size: 15.75 x 13.5 in. Overall Size: 20.5 x 18.25 in. Unframed. (B10867)