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On every Thursday, I am introducing the stories about various artists and their paintings with the title “Interesting Art Stories”.
The 19th story for this week is "Declaration of Independence" by the American painter John Trumbull.
John Trumbull
The “Declaration of Independence”, one of the most iconic paintings in US history, is an oil painting on a large canvas of 3.7 x 5.5 m by American painter, John Trumbull. It was based on “The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776,” which is a much smaller version of the identical scene, currently held by the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut.
The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, John Trumbull, Yale University Art Gallery
The painting was commissioned in 1817 and has been placed in the United States Capitol rotunda since 1826 for nearly 200 years and it is also depicted on the two-dollar US bills.
United States Capitol rotunda
Many people incorrectly assume that the painting depicts the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but in reality, it shows The Five-man Drafting Committee led by Thomas Jefferson presenting the first draft of the declaration to the President of The Second Continental Congress, John Hancock on June 28, 1776.
The Committee of Five present their work, June 1776
Here, let me explain more about The Second Continental Congress and The Five-man Drafting Committee.
The Second Continental Congress was a gathering of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies in America who united in the American War of Independence. Following the First Continental Congress held in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which was the outbreak of armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in America and the first military engagements of the American War of Independence, occurred on April 19, 1775.
The Battle of Lexington, 19 April 1775, William Barns Wollen (1910)
Then a gathering with representatives from the colonies was convened again in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775.
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Principal meeting site of the Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress, which served as a de facto national government at the outset of the American War of Independence, adopted the Lee Resolution which declared independence from Britain on July 2, 1776, and two days later the Congress agreed to the Declaration of Independence. The Congress functioned as the provisional government of the United States of America by March 1, 1781.
The Second Continental Congress voting on the United States Declaration of Independence
The Five-man Drafting Committee was a group of five members who drafted and submitted to the Congress which became the Declaration of Independence of America of July 4, 1776.
The United States Declaration of Independence
The members of this group are as follows:
John Adams, representative of Massachusetts, who became the second U.S. President;
Thomas Jefferson, representative of Virginia, who became the third U.S. President;
Benjamin Franklin, representative of Pennsylvania, who is known as one of the most famous Founding Fathers and the first U.S. Minister to France;
Roger Sherman, representative of Connecticut, who is the only person to sign all four of the U.S. state papers such as the Continental Association, the Declaration, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution; and
Robert Livingston, representative of New York, who later negotiated the Louisiana Purchase as the Minister to France.
The painting of Trumbull shows only 42 of the 56 signers who signed the declaration. He originally tried to include all 56 signers in the painting, but was unable to obtain the portraits of remaining 14 signers. In addition, he included several figures in the painting who did not sign the declaration but only participated in the debate, including John Dickinson, who refused to sign.
In the painting, at first glance, it seems that Thomas Jefferson is stepping on John Adams' foot, which has led many people to interpret it as their friendly rivalry or the political tension between the two. However, closer examination of the painting shows that the feet of the two are merely close together.
To make this clear, this painting on the two-dollar US bill was modified with more space between their feet.
Image of U.S. two dollar bill, rear
Thank you.
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