John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence painting associated with America’s founding story contains 47 figures.
Trumbull’s large oil painting depicts the presentation of the draft Declaration to Congress, rather than every delegate signing the document at one moment. Five men stand at the center: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, representing the drafting committee.
The remaining figures represent members of Congress who were present or associated with the event. Trumbull aimed to include recognizable leaders, but he did not have life portraits of everyone and sometimes worked from later accounts or existing likenesses.
The painting is often misidentified as a literal record of the signing. That interpretation is inaccurate: the scene shows the committee presenting the draft. The image became especially familiar through its appearance on the reverse of the U.S. two-dollar bill, where only 40 of the painting’s 47 figures are shown.