Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

"Liberte", [Marquis de Lafayette and James Armistead Lafayette at Yorktown]
ca. 1783-1800
Noel le Mire (1724-1801), engraver; Jean-Baptiste le Paon (1738-1785), painter
France
Engraving on paper
mat: 28"h x 22"w; sheet: 19-3/4"h x 14-1/4"w
Special Acquisitions Fund
80.55.2

From the painting by le Paon; engraving shows standing figure of James Armistead Lafayette holding horse; foreground standing Marquis de Lafayette; background including scene of ships, soldiers, horses; on bottom "Peint par L le Paon Peintre de Batille de SAS Mgr. le Prince de Conde/ Grave par N. le Mire des Academies Imperiales et Royales etr de celle des Siences et Art de Rouen et de Lille"; in laurel wreath with liberty cap "Liberte".

This print of Marquis de Lafayette and James Armistead shows the two men at Yorktown, Virginia, and is based on a painting by a French artist. Born into slavery, James Armistead served as a spy for the American army during the Revolutionary War, conveying false information the British and telling American officers, including Lafayette, about what he learned from the British. After the war James Armistead petitioned Congress for his freedom, supported in part by a letter from Lafayette testifying to Armistead's contribution to the war effect. Armistead was granted freedom in 1787 and added the name Lafayette to his.