Declaração de Independência

Trumbull began working out this scene in the 1780s, a veteran of the Revolution who had served briefly as Washington's aide and wanted to fix the moment in paint while the men were still alive to sit for him. He shows the drafting committee presenting the Declaration to Congress in Philadelphia, and he chased down real likenesses, travelling to paint Jefferson, Adams and others from life. That is why the picture is a document as much as a scene. It also quietly rearranges history. The 47 men shown were never all in the room together on any single day, and the vote and the signing were spread across weeks. The version in the Capitol Rotunda is the large one, finished in 1818, grown from a small painting he had carried around for over 30 years.