John Trumbull painted the 1818 scene of the Declaration of Independence shown on the reverse of the U.S. $2 bill.
The large oil painting, titled Declaration of Independence, was commissioned by Congress in 1817, purchased in 1819, and placed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in 1826. It measures about 12 by 18 feet and remains one of the Capitol’s best-known historical paintings.
Despite its familiar appearance, the scene does not show the signing of the Declaration. It depicts the five-member drafting committee presenting its document to the Second Continental Congress on June 28, 1776. The main signing occurred later, primarily on August 2, 1776.
Trumbull based many figures on portraits made from life and included 42 of the Declaration’s 56 signers. The image on the two-dollar bill is an adaptation of the painting, which is why people sometimes mistake the currency design for a literal record of the signing.