Treaty of Paris (painting)

Treaty of Paris, by Benjamin West, 1783 (left to right: John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and William Temple Franklin)

The last page of the Treaty of Paris, signed by Adams, Franklin, and Jay

American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Agreement with Great Britain, also known as the Treaty of Paris, is a 1783 painting by Benjamin West depicting the United States delegation preparing to further negotiate and sign the 1783 Treaty of Paris and formally end the American Revolutionary War. The eventual signing of the treaty took place on 3 September 1783 at the Hotel York at 56 rue Jacob.

Before ending the American Revolution, John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and William Temple Franklin posed for the painting. The British delegation refused to pose, and the painting was never completed.

The painting, a gift of Henry Francis du Pont, is exhibited in the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, du Pont's former home in Winterthur, Delaware. Du Pont had purchased the work from the J.P. Morgan collection in 1948.^[1]

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