Who painted the 1819 historical scene titled Declaration of Independence?

John Trumbull painted the 1819 historical scene titled Declaration of Independence.

The oil painting depicts the Committee of Five presenting its draft to the Second Continental Congress in 1776. It is often mistaken for a literal record of the signing, but the scene primarily represents the submission of the draft rather than every delegate signing the parchment at once.

Trumbull was a Connecticut-born artist who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He later worked in Europe and the United States, producing historical paintings that helped shape popular visual memories of the founding era.

The image appears on the reverse of the two-dollar bill. Because the painting includes many recognizable figures in one room, viewers sometimes assume all 56 signers are shown; the composition actually contains 48 people, including several who were not signers.