Artist    John Trumbull

Year    commissioned 1817; purchased 1819; placed in the Rotunda 1826 Type    Oil-on-canvas Dimensions 12 x 18 feet

Location    United States Capitol, Washington, D.C., United States

John Trumbull's painting depicting the presentation of the draft of the Declaration of Independence to Congress hangs in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol.

 

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 as well to depict the chamber where the Second Continental Congress met.  

The painting is sometimes incorrectly described as the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, the painting actually shows the five-man drafting committee presenting their draft of the Declaration to the Congress, an event that took place on June 28, 1776. It does not depict the signing of the document, which took place later.

 

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 decided to depict several participants in the debate who did not sign the document, including John Dickinson, who declined to sign.

 

Because the Declaration was debated and signed over a period of time when membership in Congress changed, the men in the painting had never all been in the same room at the same time.

 

Thomas Jefferson seems to be stepping on the foot of John Adams in the painting, which many think is supposed to symbolize their relationship as political enemies. However, upon closer examination of the painting, 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.

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MY VERSION OF THE PORTRAIT:

In 2010, I purchased a high quality electronic file of this painting from the US National Archives and had it printed by KMP Graphcs in Burleson into a 10 x 7 canvas for a Christmas celebration I have every year with my grandchildren.

Since Christmas 2010, I have used this framed portrait for many tea party and conservative events and themes including the Defend the Constitution Forum in Sep 2013. For over 2 years, it was used as the podium backdrop for the meetings of the Texas Patriots Tea Party in Burleson and Cleburne.

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In September 2024, I had the portrait professionally framed and donated it to Rick and Kara Green's Patriot Academy in Fredericksburg, Texas. [https://www.patriotacademy.com/]

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It now has a permanent home at the Patriot Academy...

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Recently, at President Donald Trump's inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda, the original Trumbull painting could be seen...

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