Lafayette Parade Banner

Philadelphians celebrated the Marquis de Lafayette’s return to the United States in 1824 with a large parade that passed by Independence Hall. Artist John Archibald Woodside, who was born the same year as the victory at Yorktown, painted this silk banner with a portrait of Lafayette at the center for the parade. The “Victuallers of Philadelphia,” the butchers who supplied the residents, taverns, and inns with meat, carried this banner during the procession through the streets of the city. For some reason, Woodside painted over the word “Female,” perhaps to correct a mistake. The allegorical figures of fame (left) and liberty (right) hoist a crown of laurels over Lafayette’s head.

Object Details

• Parade Banner
  Painted by John Archibald Woodside
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  1824    
  Silk, Paint
  Museum of the American Revolution
  2003.00.0491