Trumbull's Declaration of Independence

''Declaration of Independence'' is a oil-on-canvas painting by the American artist John Trumbull depicting the presentation of the draft of the Declaration of Independence to Congress. It was based on a much smaller version of the same scene, presently held by the Yale University Art Gallery. Trumbull painted many of the figures in the picture from life, and visited Independence Hall to depict the chamber where the Second Continental Congress met. The oil-on-canvas work was commissioned in 1817, purchased in 1819, and placed in the United States Capitol rotunda in 1826.

The painting is sometimes incorrectly described as depicting the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The painting shows the five-man drafting committee presenting their draft of the Declaration to the Congress, an event that took place on June 28, 1776, and not its signing, which took place mainly on August 2.

The painting shows 42 of the 56 signers of the Declaration; Trumbull originally intended to include all 56 signers but was unable to obtain likenesses for all of them. He also depicted several participants in the debate who did not sign the document, including John Dickinson, who declined to sign. Trumbull had no portrait of Benjamin Harrison V to work with, but his son Benjamin Harrison VI was said to resemble his father, so Trumbull painted him instead. Similarly, Trumbull painted Rufus Hopkins, who resembled his father Stephen Hopkins, for whom no portrait was available. As the Declaration was debated and signed over a period of time when membership in Congress changed, the men featured in the painting never were in the same room at the same time.

Although Thomas Jefferson appears to be stepping on John Adams' shoe in the painting, which many thought symbolized their relationship as friendly rivals, upon closer examination it can be seen that their feet are merely close together. This part of the image was correctly depicted on the two-dollar bill version.

On the farthest wall hangs a display of trumpets, drum, and regimental colours captured from British regiments. This is not depicted in all versions, most notably the one seen on the two-dollar bill.

Key to historical figures depicted in the painting

File:Declaration of Independence (1819), by John Trumbull.jpg, upright=2.75, Trumbull's ''Declaration of Independence''
desc bottom-right
rect 4 1044 38 1130 George Wythe
rect 38 1026 86 1119 William Whipple
rect 93 1046 139 1133 Josiah Bartlett
rect 147 1055 197 1133 Thomas Lynch Jr.
rect 215 1037 293 1138 Benjamin Harrison
rect 424 1049 491 1140 Richard Henry Lee
rect 492 1051 533 1139 Samuel Adams
rect 537 1055 582 1140 George Clinton
rect 287 856 356 940 William Paca
rect 366 855 417 948 Samuel Chase
rect 456 886 503 960 Lewis Morris
rect 506 913 549 987 William Floyd
rect 575 958 619 1015 Arthur Middleton
rect 601 1053 638 1108 Thomas Heyward Jr.
rect 640 1069 689 1125 Charles Carroll
rect 700 1076 734 1126 George Walton
rect 741 1086 787 1144 Robert Morris
rect 794 1071 824 1125 Thomas Willing
rect 838 1086 881 1147 Benjamin Rush
rect 902 1092 942 1153 Elbridge Gerry
rect 946 1087 981 1149 Robert Treat Paine
rect 987 1095 1019 1151 Abraham Clark
rect 816 962 850 1010 Stephen Hopkins
rect 855 966 889 1019 William Ellery
rect 894 965 928 1015 George Clymer
rect 1064 1099 1106 1155 William Hooper
rect 1114 1098 1153 1150 Joseph Hewes
rect 1203 1093 1247 1148 James Wilson
rect 1256 1104 1293 1153 Francis Hopkinson
rect 1427 858 1510 955 John Adams
rect 1519 806 1590 911 Roger Sherman
rect 1592 833 1652 928 Robert R. Livingston
rect 1719 784 1803 886 Thomas Jefferson
rect 1883 850 1956 945 Benjamin Franklin
rect 2095 1059 2138 1116 Richard Stockton
rect 2150 1067 2187 1121 Francis Lewis
rect 2192 1059 2232 1114 John Witherspoon
rect 2252 1060 2292 1114 Samuel Huntington
rect 2267 953 2308 1007 William Williams
rect 2312 944 2355 999 Oliver Wolcott
rect 2408 773 2484 875 Charles Thomson
rect 2444 950 2532 1065 John Hancock
rect 2659 848 2717 938 George Read
rect 2719 843 2759 925 John Dickinson
rect 2759 852 2814 945 Edward Rutledge
rect 2914 1021 2963 1094 Thomas McKean
rect 2964 1016 3644 1696 Philip Livingston
rect 1 1 3000 1970

The key to the 47 figures in the painting follows the numbering used by the U.S. government publication "Art of the Capitol" (in the illustration of the key shown in this section) but provides a different (hopefully clearer) description of which figure is where in the painting, so numbers are not entirely in order.

Key to figures (in each group, listed from left to right):

Four men seated on the far left:
*1. George Wythe
*2. William Whipple
*3. Josiah Bartlett
*5. Thomas Lynch Jr.

Seated at the table on the left:
*4. Benjamin Harrison

Seated together to the right of Harrison and in front of the standing figures:
*6. Richard Henry Lee
*7. Samuel Adams
*8. George Clinton

Five figures standing together on the left:
*9. William Paca
*10. Samuel Chase
*11. Lewis Morris
*12. William Floyd
*13. Arthur Middleton

Three seated figures in the back between the two sets of standing figures:
*14. Thomas Heyward Jr.
*15. Charles Carroll
*16. George Walton

Set of three figures standing together in the back:
*23. Stephen Hopkins (wearing a hat)
*24. William Ellery
*25. George Clymer

Ten figures seated:
*17. Robert Morris (first on the left at the table)
*18. Thomas Willing
*19. Benjamin Rush
*20. Elbridge Gerry
*21. Robert Treat Paine
*22. Abraham Clark
*26. William Hooper
*27. Joseph Hewes
*28. James Wilson
*29. Francis Hopkinson

Five figures standing in front (the Committee of Five):
*30. John Adams
*31. Roger Sherman
*32. Robert R. Livingston
*33. Thomas Jefferson
*34. Benjamin Franklin

Four background figures seated together near the right corner of the room:
*35. Richard Stockton
*36. Francis Lewis
*37. John Witherspoon
*38. Samuel Huntington

Two figures standing in the right corner of the room:
*39. William Williams
*40. Oliver Wolcott

Two foreground figures at the central table:
*42. Charles Thomson (standing)
*41. John Hancock (seated)

Three figures standing at right:
*43. George Read
*44. John Dickinson
*45. Edward Rutledge

Two figures seated at far right:
*46. Thomas McKean
*47. Philip Livingston
(Note: - Not a signer of the final Declaration of Independence but depicted in painting. Although Charles Thomson was one of two members listed by name in the earlier Dunlap Broadside as having attested to the Declaration, and many historians believe he had signed the original document that was lost. Clinton was not present at the signing of the Declaration.)

Unpainted signers

There were 14 signers of the Declaration who did not appear in the painting:
*Matthew Thornton ( New Hampshire)
* John Hart ( New Jersey)
* John Morton ( Pennsylvania)
* James Smith ( Pennsylvania)
* George Taylor ( Pennsylvania)
* George Ross ( Pennsylvania)
* Caesar Rodney ( Delaware)
* Thomas Stone ( Maryland)
*Thomas Nelson, Jr. ( Virginia)
*Francis Lightfoot Lee ( Virginia)
*Carter Braxton ( Virginia)
* John Penn ( North Carolina)
* Button Gwinnett ( Georgia)
* Lyman Hall ( Georgia)

On U.S. currency and postage stamps

Trumbull's ''Declaration of Independence'' signing scene painting has been depicted several times on United States currency and postage stamps. It was first used on the reverse side of the $100 National Bank Note that was issued in 1863. The depiction was engraved by Frederick Girsch of the American Bank Note Company. The same steel engraving was used on the 24¢ stamp issued six years later as part of the 1869 pictorial series of definitive U.S. postage stamps.

Trumbull's painting is presently depicted on the reverse of the two-dollar bill. Featured in it are 40 of the 47 figures from Trumbull's painting. Cut out from the scene are: the farthest four figures on the left—George Wythe, William Whipple, Josiah Bartlett, and Thomas Lynch, Jr.; the farthest two figures on the right—Thomas McKean and Philip Livingston; and one of three figures seated in the left rear—George Walton. Additionally, two unrecognized figures were added: one in between Samuel Chase and Lewis Morris and another between James Wilson and Francis Hopkinson, bringing the total number of figures shown in this presentation scene to 42.

Other versions

Trumbull painted a smaller version (only ) entitled ''The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776'' (1786–1820) that is now on view at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut.

Legacy and interpretations

In 2017, the company Ancestry.com restaged the painting with the 29 living descendants of the men depicted in Trumbull's painting as part of an advertising campaign called “Declaration Descendants". The campaign included two short films and ran on digital and social media platforms. Shannon Lanier, a descendant of Thomas Jefferson, said: “When you see the new picture, the new image, it’s a picture of diverse people. Black, white, Hispanic, Native American—a little bit of everything—Asian, and that’s more of a representation of this country.”

In the 2008 HBO miniseries '' John Adams'', in one of the final scenes of the series, the painter John Trumbull is showing his massive mural to an elderly John Adams for his approval. While staring at the painting Adams mentions, "They're all dead ... except me and Jefferson." He then expresses to Trumbull his disapproval of the work. This leads to a brief argument between the men about the difference between artistic license and historical accuracy. The scene itself is entirely fictional, but serves as a warning towards the fictionalization of the past itself with Adams stating "It is very bad history".HBO's Miniseries "John Adams" (2008). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT0qNAYJQWU

See also

*'' Congress Voting Independence'', a similar painting by Robert Edge Pine, 1784-1788
*''Declaration of Independence Tablet'', Boston Common
*'' Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States'' – a 1940 painting depicting members of the 1787 Constitutional Convention by Howard Chandler Christy.
* Founding Fathers of the United States
* Syng inkstand, pictured in the painting

References

External links

;Keys to the figures
Another key to the figures

;Other
Architect of the Capitol
Web page on the painting

{{Authority control

Paintings about the American Revolution
Paintings by John Trumbull
1810s paintings
United States Declaration of Independence
Paintings in the United States Capitol
Musical instruments in art
Books in art
Flags in art
Cultural depictions of John Adams
Cultural depictions of Benjamin Franklin
Cultural depictions of Thomas Jefferson
Cultural depictions of Samuel Adams
United States Declaration of Independence in art