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John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence is an iconic 12- by 18-foot painting in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda which depicts the presentation of the draft of the Declaration to Congress.

Trumbull painted many of the figures in the picture from life and visited Independence Hall as well to depict the room in which the Second Continental Congress met.

The painting is often mistakenly called the "Signing of the Declaration of Independence," but only shows the presentation of the draft. While this event did take place, it was not actually in the presence of all the people in the picture.

The oil-on-canvas work was commissioned in 1817; purchased 1819; and placed in 1826 in the Rotunda.

A close inspection reveals that Thomas Jefferson's foot is stepping on John Adam's, symbolizing their relationship as political enemies.^[1] Based on the erroneous belief that this image is an artistic mistake, this part of the image was changed on the $2 bill version.^{[citation needed]}

Trumbull's work shows 42 of the 56 signers of the Declaration, and five figures in the painting did not sign.

Contents 1 Unpictured signers 2 On the two-dollar bill 3 Key to historical figures depicted in the painting 4 Similar paintings 5 Footnotes 6 External links 6.1 Keys to the figures 6.2 Other

There were 14 signers of the Declaration who did not appear in the painting:

• Matthew Thornton (New Hampshire)
• John Hart (New Jersey)
• John Morton (Pennsylvania)
• James Smith (Pennsylvania)
• George Taylor (Pennsylvania)
• George Ross (Pennsylvania)
• Caesar Rodney (Delaware)
• Thomas Stone (Maryland)
• Thomas Nelson Jr. (Virginia)
• Francis Lightfoot Lee (Virginia)
• Carter Braxton (Virginia)
• John Penn (North Carolina)
• Button Gwinnett (Georgia)
• Lyman Hall (Georgia)

Trumbull's painting is the source of the picture on the reverse of the two-dollar bill, which cuts out the farthest four figures on the left (George Wythe, William Whipple, Josiah Bartlett and Thomas Lynch); the farthest two figures on the right (Thomas McKean and Philip Livingston); and seated in the left rear, George Walton. The bill features 41 of the 48 figures from Trumbull's painting.

The following key to the figures in the painting follows the numbering used by the U.S. Government publication "Art of the Capitol" (in the illustration of the key shown in this section) but provides a different (hopefully clearer) description of which figure is where in the painting, so numbers are not entirely in order.

Key to figures ("left" and "right" are the viewer's "left" and "right"; in each group, listed from left to right):

Four men seated on the far left:

• 1. George Wythe
• 2. William Whipple
• 3. Josiah Bartlett
• 5. Thomas Lynch

Seated at the table on the left:

• 4. Benjamin Harrison

Seated together to the right of Harrison and in front of the standing figures:

• 6. Richard Henry Lee
• 7. Samuel Adams
• 8. George Clinton

Five figures standing together on the left:

• 9. William Paca
• 10. Samuel Chase
• 11. Lewis Morris
• 12. William Floyd
• 13. Arthur Middleton

Three seated figures in the back between the two sets of standing figures:

• 14. Thomas Heyward, Jr.
• 15. Charles Carroll of Carrollton
• 16. George Walton

Set of three figures standing together in the back:

• 23. Stephen Hopkins (wearing a hat)
• 24. William Ellery
• 25. George Clymer

Ten figures seated:

• 17. Robert Morris (first on the left at the table)
• 18. Thomas Willing
• 19. Benjamin Rush
• 20. Elbridge Gerry
• 21. Robert Treat Paine
• 22. Abraham Clark
• 26. William Hooper
• 27. Joseph Hewes
• 28. James Wilson
• 29. Francis Hopkinson

Five figures standing in front:

• 30. John Adams
• 31. Roger Sherman
• 32. Robert R. Livingston
• 33. Thomas Jefferson
• 34. Benjamin Franklin

Four background figures seated together near the right corner of the room:

• 35. Richard Stockton
• 36. Francis Lewis
• 37. John Witherspoon
• 38. Samuel Huntington

Two figures standing in the right corner of the room:

• 39. William Williams
• 40. Oliver Wolcott

Two foreground figures at the central table:

• 42. Charles Thomson (standing)
• 41. John Hancock (seated)

Three figures standing at right:

• 43. George Read
• 44. John Dickinson
• 45. Edward Rutledge

Two figures seated at far right:

• 46. Thomas McKean
• 47. Philip Livingston

Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States by Howard Chandler Christy, is a similar painting depicting members of the Constitutional Convention. Painted in the Twentieth century, the work is also located in the U.S. Capitol.

1. ^ [1]The detail is mentioned at this Web site, accessed February 4, 2007

• One (very hard to read) key to the figures
• another key
• "Declaration of Independence" Flash - based key

• A much larger image of the painting
• A web page with some information on the painting