John Trumbull painted the famous United States Capitol scene titled Declaration of Independence.
Trumbull’s oil painting was commissioned in 1817, purchased in 1819, and placed in the United States Capitol Rotunda in 1826. It depicts the Committee of Five presenting a draft of the declaration to the Second Continental Congress.
The painting is frequently mistaken for a literal depiction of the declaration’s signing. It does not show all 56 signers gathered around a table. Instead, it presents five delegates—Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston—offering the draft to Congress.
Trumbull included 42 of the 56 signers in the completed composition, along with several other political figures. He also visited Independence Hall to study the chamber where Congress had met, combining historical research with artistic reconstruction.