Declaration of Independence' Preserves The Patriots' Faces

Townhall.com ^ | July 5, 2015 | Jeff Jacoby

[Kaslin]

IT IS THE classic American history painting, instantly familiar to millions as the image of that fateful moment in 1776 when history turned on its hinge, and a nation conceived in liberty was born. For nearly two centuries, it has hung in the Rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, an icon of the American founding by an artist who lived through the Revolution and personally met most of the men depicted in his painting. And yet John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 captures a scene that never occurred.

In the famous picture, the five men appointed to prepare a declaration of independence from Great Britain — John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert Livingston of New York, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, and Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania — are shown presenting their draft to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. But it was actually on June 28 that the committee's original draft was reported to the Congress (and only Jefferson, who chaired the drafting committee, would have submitted the document to the presiding officer). The vote in favor of independence came on July 2, after which Congress spent the better part of three days debating and amending the declaration's words. On the morning of July 4, the delegates agreed to a final text and sent it off to be printed.

It would be another two weeks before the Declaration was engrossed on parchment — the handwritten charterdisplayed today at the National Archives in an encasement of titanium and bulletproof glass. Not until August 2 did the business of signing the document get underway. And even then, there was no ceremony or posed formality. Some congressional delegates didn't affix their signatures for months; some, including Livingston, never had a chance to sign at all.

Trumbull also took liberties with many of the setting's physical details. Delegates didn't sit in upholstered mahogany armchairs. The window treatments were simple blinds, not velvet drapes. No battle flags adorned the rear wall. As Hollywood might put it, his painting was "based on" a historical event. It wasn't meant to be taken as accurate history.

Except in two ways — the two that matter most.

Of the 48 members of the Continental Congress visible in Trumbull's great work, nearly all were painted from life. Trumbull was a particularly talented miniature portraitist, and he made it his mission to preserve the faces of those patriots of 1776 — the original "greatest generation" — as true-to-life facsimiles. Declaration of Independence, which he began painting in 1786, took more than 30 years to complete; he journeyed extensively in order to sketch or paint in person as many of the surviving signers as he could find. Trumbull later recorded some of his travels: "Mr. Adams was painted in London; Mr. Jefferson in Paris; Mr. Hancock and Samuel Adams in Boston; Mr. Edward Rutledge in Charleston, South Carolina; Mr. Wythe at Williamsburg, in Virginia; Mr. Bartlett at Exeter in New Hampshire, &c. &c."

As an artist, Trumbull readily took license with chairs and drapes and congressional tableaux. But when it came to the likenesses of men he revered as heroes, authenticity was paramount.

Trumbull knew only too well what the founders had risked for independence. He himself had fought in the Revolutionary War; at one point he was imprisoned by the British on a charge of treason. He was passionate about recording for succeeding generations of Americans "the personal resemblance of those who have been the great actors" in what he never doubted was "the noblest series of actions which have ever presented themselves in the history of man."

In Declaration of Independence and his other history paintings, Trumbull bore witness to the greatest achievement of his age: the birth of the American nation. His goal, he wrote a friend, was to record "in my language, the history of our country." So he did, uniting twin passions for painting and for his country's history to become the indispensable artist/eyewitness of the American Revolution. His pictures are his testimony, as riveting today as it was two centuries ago.

[JoeProBono]

[gorush]

Amazing, thanks. Here's another, not a historically accurate depiction of a hall in the Louvre, but representing the artists favorite portraits throughout the museum (with celebrities included):

[Albion Wilde]

Here are some views of the actual room and furniture in what was subsequently known as Independence Hall, Philadelphia:

If you look at the deep window openings, they have accordian-folded shutters enclosed by the window frames. They could be partially or completely folded out, top or bottom; and likewise the double-hung sash windows could be opened top or bottom. Using a combination of sash openings and interior shutters angled out, the room could be shaded and cooled somewhat in the heat of July. This type of shutter is most likely what was used, neither the curtains shown above nor the "blinds" mentioned in the article. Below is a picture of some colonial-era window shutters that have been removed for refinishing:

Wide-angle lens distortion to show more of the room at one time:

And here are front and rear views of Independence Hall:

[Conservative4Ever]

Thank you for those wonderful pictures. Did you take them. I remember seeing independence hall in 1961, and touching the liberty bell. I was moved even as a girl, when viewing that room, where our early history was made.

[exit82]

Great pics, AW.

I truly believe in was in this room in this building at this time that the will of Almighty God was revealed to found this great country foe all of the purposes it would accomplish in its lifetime.

The events of the first six months of 1776 all were meant to forth a new nation, conceived in liberty and under the auspice of a Divine Presence.

I think of the men in that room, and what we have today, there is no comparison.

To have that much courage, fortitude, long term vision, resolve, and faith in one room at one time was indeed a miracle.