Declaration of Independence (painting)

Key to historical figures depicted in the painting

The painting includes 47 figures, numbered according to the U.S. government publication "Art of the Capitol." On the far left are four seated men: George Wythe, William Whipple, Josiah Bartlett, and Thomas Lynch Jr. At the table on the left sits Benjamin Harrison. Seated together to the right of Harrison and in front of the standing figures are Richard Henry Lee, Samuel Adams, and George Clinton. Five standing figures on the left are William Paca, Samuel Chase, Lewis Morris, William Floyd, and Arthur Middleton.

Three seated figures in the back between the two sets of standing figures are Thomas Heyward Jr., Charles Carroll, and George Walton. A set of three standing figures in the back includes Stephen Hopkins (wearing a hat), William Ellery, and George Clymer. Ten seated figures include Robert Morris, Thomas Willing, Benjamin Rush, Elbridge Gerry, Robert Treat Paine, Abraham Clark, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, James Wilson, and Francis Hopkinson. Five standing figures in front form the Committee of Five: John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.

Four background figures seated near the right corner are Richard Stockton, Francis Lewis, John Witherspoon, and Samuel Huntington. Two standing figures in the right corner are William Williams and Oliver Wolcott. Two foreground figures at the central table are Charles Thomson (standing) and John Hancock (seated). Three standing figures at right are George Read, John Dickinson, and Edward Rutledge.

Two seated figures at far right are Thomas McKean and Philip Livingston. John Dickinson and Charles Thomson are not signers of the final Declaration; George Clinton was not present at the signing.

On U.S. currency and postage stamps

Trumbull's painting first appeared on the reverse side of the $100 National Bank Note issued in 1863, engraved by Frederick Girsch. The same engraving was used on the 24¢ stamp of the 1869 pictorial series. The painting is presently depicted on the reverse of the two-dollar bill, showing 40 of the 47 figures; four figures on the far left, two on the far right, and George Walton are omitted, while two unrecognized figures are added, bringing the total to 42.

Legacy and interpretations

In 2017, Ancestry.com restaged the painting with 29 living descendants of the men depicted, as part of an advertising campaign called "Declaration Descendants." Shannon Lanier, a descendant of Thomas Jefferson, noted the diverse representation in the new image. In the 2008 HBO miniseries John Adams, a fictional scene shows an elderly John Adams criticizing Trumbull's mural, arguing about artistic license versus historical accuracy. Although Thomas Jefferson appears to step on John Adams' shoe in the painting, their feet are merely close together; this detail is correctly shown on the two-dollar bill. A display of captured British trumpets, drum, and regimental colours hangs on the farthest wall, but is not depicted in all versions, notably not on the two-dollar bill.

Did You Know?

• Trumbull painted a smaller version (20.875 x 31 in) entitled The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 (1786–1820), now at the Yale University Art Gallery.
• Trumbull painted Rufus Hopkins, who resembled his father Stephen Hopkins, for whom no portrait was available.
• Benjamin Harrison VI was painted by Trumbull because his father Benjamin Harrison V had no portrait.