YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY JOHN TRUMBULL JOHN TRUMBULL A BRIEF SKETCH OF HIS LIFE TO WHICH IS ADDED A CATALOGUE OF HIS WORKS Prepared for the Committee on the Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Founding of Tale College BY JOHN F. WEIR, N.A., M.A. DIRECTOR OF THE YALE SCHOOL OF THE FINE ARTS NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS MDCCCCI COPYRIGHT, 1 90 1 BY JOHN F. WEIR PUBLISHED OCTOBER, 1901 PREFACE THE following sketch of the life and works of John Trumbull has been prepared at the request of the Com mittee on the Bi-Centennial Celebration of the Founding of Yale College, in connection with an exhibition of his collected paintings, as a feature of that celebration, and to " emphasize the position of Yale University as the principal custodian of Trumbull's historical works." The "Trumbull Gallery," since 1 83 1, when it came into the possession of Yale College, constitutes one of the chief treasures of the University, con taining as it does a series of historical paintings commemorative of important events of the American Revolution, including a collection of PREFACE portraits of prominent persons of that time, painted from life. The artist served for a brief period as aide-de-camp to General Washington, in the first year of the Revolution, and in the succeeding year he served as deputy adjutant- general under the command of Major-General Gates. In these positions, as well as in his sub sequent official and social relations, he was brought into familiar intercourse with many of the most prominent actors in the War of Inde pendence, being himself a son of Governor Jon athan Trumbull, Sr., of Connecticut. Through his prominent connections, therefore, both in Europe and America, the life of Trumbull has peculiar interest, while his works have be come a precious legacy to the succeeding gen erations. The principal sources of information con sulted in the preparation of the following mon ograph were the "Autobiography, Reminis cences and Letters of John Trumbull"; Dun- lap's "History ofthe Arts of Design"; Tuck- erman's "Book of the Artists," "Artist-Life," and "Memorial of Greenough" ; John Durand's PREFACE papers on Trumbull, reprinted from the American Art Review; papers in "The American Journal of Science" and other peri odicals ; and certain manuscript letters of Trum bull, together with the various catalogues of his works, published in 1831, 1835, 1847, I^52 and 1864. CONTENTS JOHN TRUMBULL: Sketch of His Life ..... 3—46 DESCRIPTIONS OF PAINTINGS : 47-^5 CATALOGUE OF HISTORICAL PAINT INGS, PORTRAITS, MINIATURES, AND OTHER WORKS OF ART, BY JOHN TRUMBULL . 66-79 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING Frontispiece: John Trumbull: . Title Painted by Waldo and Jouett. Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., 1793 : . 4 Painted by John Trumbull. Mrs. Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., 1793 : 6 Miniature by John Trumbull. Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., 1792: . 10 Miniature by John Trumbull. Benjamin West: . . . 14 Painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Thomas Jefferson : .... 22 From Trumbull's "Declaration of Indepen dence." John Adams, 1792: .... 24 From a miniature by Trumbull. President Washington, 1793: . 26 By Trumbull. John Jay, 1793: .... 32 Attributed to Trumbull. ILLUSTRATIONS Alexander Hamilton : Painted by Trumbull. Mrs. John Trumbull : Painted by Trumbull. Bust of Trumbull : By Ball Hughes. Battle of Bunker's Hill: Painted by Trumbull. Death of Montgomery: . Painted by Trumbull. Sortie from Gibraltar : . Painted by Trumbull. Declaration of Independence : Painted by Trumbull. General Washington : . . . Full-length portrait by Trumbull. Surrender of Lord Cornwallis : Painted by Trumbull. Resignation of Washington : Painted by Trumbull. Oil Sketch by Trumbull for The Battle of Princeton: Copy of Certificate of of the Cincinnati : the Order 34!38 4249 525355 6268 7274 80 JOHN TRUMBULL JOHN TRUMBULL TRUMBULL begins his autobiography with an account of the origin of the family name, connecting the New England Trumbulls with the Turnbulls of Scot land, whose heraldic device is three bulls' heads, with the motto, Fortuna favet audaci, said to have originated in the rescue of the king of Scotland from the attack of a bull, by a young peasant, who was rewarded with an estate and coat of arms. Trumbull traces his immediate descent from John Trumbull, of Rowley, Essex Co., Mass., who came from Cumberland, or Lancashire, England, and was made a freeman in Boston, in 1640, whose son John removed to Suffield, Conn. One of the sons of the latter, Joseph, settled in Lebanon, and this person was the artist's grandfather, born in 1679. His son, Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., father of the artist, was JOHN TRUMBULL born at Lebanon in 1710, and was graduated from Harvard College in 1727, eventually be coming Governor of Connecticut. He was the only Colonial Governor who held office during the Revolution. Washington in his difficulties and perplexities at a critical period of the war, when seeking reinforcements, referred in a letter to Governor Trumbull as " Brother Jonathan," thus originating a term since humorously em ployed in personifying the nation. The artist's mother, Faith Trumbull, daugh ter of John Robinson, minister of Duxbury, Mass., was the great-granddaughter of John Robinson, who led the Pilgrim Fathers out of England, and was their pastor until they sailed from Holland for the new world, in 1620. John Trumbull, the artist, was born at Leb anon on the 6th of June, 1756. He was the youngest of six children, and for the first nine months of his life was subject to almost daily convulsions caused by compression of the brain, owing to the overlapping of the bones of the cra nium. By the mother's untiring exertions these were eventually reduced to their proper junc tion in the sutures, and the child quickly re covered. At the time that John was old enough to - i JONATHAN TRUMBULL, SR. J793 GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT DURING THE REVOLUTION • JOHN TRUMBULL begin his studies, there was at Lebanon an ex cellent school kept by Nathan Tisdale, a gradu ate of Harvard College and a good scholar. The boy John showed great facility in acquiring knowledge, particularly languages, and "read Greek at six years of age": this, however, he says, was but the knowledge of a parrot — mem orized sounds and signs. At the age of twelve he was qualified to enter college, for he had read Eutropius, Cornelius Nepos, Virgil, Cicero, Horace and Juvenal, in Latin; the New Testa ment and Homer's Iliad in Greek ; and was thor oughly versed in Geography, ancient and mod ern. He had also read considerably in History, and attained some proficiency in Mathematics, including geometry, trigonometry, navigation and surveying. He entered Harvard College at the age of" fifteen, in the middle of the third, or Junior year, and was able to master his studies so easily that he regarded this as an idle period of his life. In a letter from one of his tutors, William Knee- land, to Governor Trumbull, dated Cambridge, 14 July, 1772, the following comment is made: " I find he [John] has a natural genius and dis position for limning. As a knowledge of that art will probably be of no use to him I submit JOHN TRUMBULL to your consideration whether it would not be best to endeavor to give him a turn to the study of perspective, a branch of mathematics, the knowl edge of which will at least be a genteel accom plishment, and may be greatly useful in future life." To this the Governor replied : "Iam sensible of his natural genius and inclination for limning ; an art I have frequently told him that will be of no use to him." While at Harvard College he filled his leisure hours, in part, with visits to a family of Acadian exiles, then resid ing in Cambridge, and from them he learned to speak the French language fluently, defraying the expense out of his pocket money. He had already manifested a strong liking for art, and while at Harvard he searched the library for works relating to the Fine Arts, discovering Brooke Taylor's fesuits' Perspective, the princi ples of which he mastered, copying all the dia grams. But what enlisted his keenest interest while in college were several portraits by Cop ley that hung in the philosophical room, where he " listened with pleasure to Dr. Winthrop's lectures." A collection of Piranesi's prints from Roman ruins was also his delight. He spent many of his spare hours, while an undergradu ate, in making copies of paintings, one of which MRS. JONATHAN TRUMBULL, SR. PAINTED AT LEBANON, 1 793 JOHN TRUMBULL was commended by Copley. In July, 1773, he says, he "graduated without applause, for he was not a speaker." As he was the youngest boy in the class, having entered in an unusual way, his timidity kept him in the background and he formed few intimate acquaintances ; in deed, only one, Christopher Gore, of a lower class, whose portrait, now in the Yale collection, Trumbull painted at a later day, when Gore was Governor of Massachusetts. On his return to Lebanon he made his first essay in original composition, in a picture of Paulus Mmilius at the Battle of Cannes; prepar ing his own colors and inventing the other re quisites for this first attempt. Though crude and unskilful in design and workmanship this picture is a kind of germ of his future perform ances. His old friend, Tisdale, having been disabled by a stroke of paralysis, Trumbull was induced to take charge of his school of seventy or eighty pupils, including "children lisping their A. B. Cs, and young men preparing for college," some of whom, he says, were older than himself. In the summer of 1 774 the angry discus sions between Great Britain and her colonies began ; Trumbull writes : " As the low growl- JOHN TRUMBULL ing of distant thunder announces the approach of the tempest, so did these discussions give no tice that a moral storm was at hand, men be gan to fear that these questions would soon be referred to the decision of arms ... I caught the growing enthusiasm. . . . My father was governor of the colony, and a patriot, and of course surrounded by patriots, to whose ardent conversation I listened daily." He formed a small company from among the young men of the school and the village, and drilled them. Of these youthful companions several became valuable officers in the war which soon fol lowed.* With the bursting of the storm at Lexing ton, General Joseph Spencer formed, "as if by magic," the first regiment of Connecticut troops, of which John Trumbull was made adjutant. While packing his things preparatory to the march of the regiment to Boston, his mother, who was assisting him, said, " My son, when I recollect the sufferings of your infancy, with * Among them was Roger Alden, who rose to the rank of major and died at West Point. He was the father of Colonel Bradford R. Alden, afterward commandant of the Corps of Cadets at the Military Academy. It was from the estate of Colonel Alden* s widow that Yale acquired the famous Belgian wood-carvings that now form part ofthe treasures of the Art School. 8 JOHN TRUMBULL your present feebleness of constitution, and anti cipate the hardships and dangers to which you are about to be exposed, I hardly dare hope that we shall ever meet again ; however, in all events, I charge you so to conduct yourself, that if I ever see you again it may be with the pride and delight of a mother." The regiment reached the vicinity of Boston early in May, and was stationed at Roxbury, in full view ofthe enemy's lines at the entrance to Boston. " The entire army," he writes, " if it deserved the name, was but an assemblage of brave, enthusiastic, undisciplined country lads; the officers, in general, quite as ignorant of mili tary life as the troops, excepting a few elderly men who had seen some irregular service among the provincials under Lord Amherst." On the 17th of June, Trumbull writes, " I was out at daybreak, visiting the piquet-guard of the regiment posted in full view of Boston and the bay behind it, when I was startled by a gun fired from a sloop of war, lying at anchor be tween the town and Litchmere's point, about where the Cambridgeport bridge now is. . . It was followed by another, apparently from the Somerset, sixty-four, which lay between the north end of Boston and Charlestown. It JOHN TRUMBULL soon became evident to us in Roxbury that some movement was making in that quarter, but we knew not what. . . As the day advanced, the fir ing continued to increase, and our anxiety to know the cause was extreme, when at length, near noon, we learned that a detachment from Cambridge had during the preceding night taken post on the hill behind Charlestown and were engaged in throwing up a work. They had been dis covered by the ships at daybreak and fired upon. . . "It was about three o'clock when the firing suddenly increased, and became very heavy and continuous : with the help of glasses, the smoke of firearms became visible along the ridge of the hill, and fire was seen to break out among the buildings of the town, which soon en veloped the whole in flames. We could ascer tain by the receding of the smoke on the ridge of the hill that our troops were losing ground, but we had no correct information of the result of the Battle of Bunker's Hill, until late at night." " Not long after that memorable day," he continues, "General Washington arrived and assumed command of the army. A few days after his arrival I was told by my eldest brother, the commissary-general, that the commander-in- JONATHAN TRUMBULL, JR. 1792 SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND AFTERWARDS GOVERNOR OF CONNECTICUT JOHN TRUMBULL chief was very desirous of obtaining a correct plan of the enemy's works in front of our posi tion, on Boston Neck ; and he advised me (as I could draw) to attempt to execute a view and plan, as a means of introducing myself (probably) to the favorable notice of the General." This he did, and as a result it led to his promotion to the position of second aide-de-camp on the general's staff. The following is copied from General Washington's order-book : "July 27, 1775. John Trumbull, Esq., being appointed Aid de Camp to his Excellency the Commander in Chief, is to be obeyed as such." Trumbull was soon after made Major of Brigade; and when, in June, 1776, General Gates was ordered to take command of the "Northern Department," then vaguely defined, but supposed to include Canada, he appointed Trumbull deputy adjutant-general, with the rank of Colonel ; and Trumbull accompanied him to Albany and Ticonderoga in that capacity. General Gates had been instructed to appoint his own deputy adjutant-general and deputy quartermaster-general, so that Trumbull's ap pointment by Gates was official and quite in order. But it was not until seven months later, namely, February, 1777, that John Hancock, JOHN TRUMBULL President of Congress, forwarded to him his commission, bearing date September 12, 1776. Considering the discrepancy between the date of this commission from Congress, and the date of his appointment by General Gates, under which appointment he had actually served in the capacity of deputy adjutant-general, Trumbull regarded it as derogatory to his military pride to accept the commission tendered him, and he returned it with a brief note pointing out the discrepancy. This terminated Trumbull's military career so far as his official standing was concerned. At a later day, in 1778, when a project was formed for the recovery of Rhode Island from the British, Trumbull offered his services to General Sullivan as a volunteer aide-de-camp and his offer was accepted. When the enterprise failed he returned to Lebanon, and, as he expressed it, "resumed his pencil." It was undoubtedly to his own and to his country's advantage that his military career was checked at this early day ; ^nevertheless his military experience, brief though it was, may be considered an important factor in his preparation for the commemorative works that afterward were to engage his powers as an artist; for he painted the Battle of Bunker's Hill and the Death of Montgomery with the under- JOHN TRUMBULL standing of one not unfamiliar with the spirit of his themes. Later in the year, 1777, he went to Boston, " that he might pursue his studies in art to greater advantage." There he rented a studio which had been built by Smibert, and found in it several studies made by that artist from cele brated pictures in Europe; these he proceeded to copy, having found that Copley had gone abroad and that there remained no one in Bos ton who could give him instruction. During the winter of 1777 and '78 he says, "a club was formed of young men fresh from college, among whom were Rufus King, Christopher Gore, William Eustis, Royal Tyler, Thomas Dawes and Aaron Dexter — all of whom became distinguished." The club met in Trumbull's room, "regaling themselves with tea instead of wine and discussing literature, politics and war." While in Boston he became acquainted with John Temple, afterwards knighted and made consul-general of Great Britain in New York, who seemed to be regarded by both parties as a neutral, and was occasionally permitted to pass from one side to the other. He married a daughter of Governor Bowdoin, and had high connections in England. As Mr. Temple 13 JOHN TRUMBULL was acquainted with Benjamin West, in London, he strongly urged Trumbull to go abroad and study under that artist ; and in fact he paved the way for this after his return to England. In May, 1780, Trumbull sailed for Nantes "in a French ship of twenty-eight guns," and on his arrival spent a brief time in Paris where he became acquainted with Dr. Franklin and his grandson, Temple Franklin; also with John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams, " then a boy of fourteen." Franklin gave him a letter of introduction to West, and he set out for Lon don. He was kindly received, and installed as a pupil, and there he met Gilbert Stuart. On Trumbull's first essay Mr. West pronounced him " evidently intended by nature for a painter." He had hardly begun his studies under West when, on November 15, 1780, the news ar rived in London of the treason of Arnold and the death of Major Andre. Trumbull says: " Major Andre had been the deputy adjutant- general of the British Army and I a deputy ad jutant-general in the American Army;" it seemed proper, therefore, that Trumbull should be taken into custody and a warrant was im mediately issued for his arrest. When Mr. West heard of this he went im- 14 TY-;^ 'j 1 " »' BENJAMIN WEST PAINTED BY SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE WADSWORTH ATHENJEUM, HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT JOHN TRUMBULL mediately to Buckingham House and gained an audience with the King, who said, " I am sorry for the young man, but he is in the hands of the law, and must abide the result — I cannot inter pose. But," he added, " tell Mr. Trumbull that in the worst possible event of the law, his life shall be safe." Trumbull remained in prison for seven months. Mr. West supplied him with painting materials and loaned him his own fine copy of a Correggio, of which Trumbull pro ceeded to make a fac-simile, which he finished in prison during the winter of 1780-81. He was finally released on bail, on condition that he should leave the Kingdom within thirty days and not return until after peace had been declared. Mr. West and Mr. Copley became his sureties. He immediately left for Holland, where he was joined by Mr. Temple. At Amsterdam he found his letters, among them a packet from his father giving him authority and instructions to negoti ate a loan in Holland for the State of Connecti cut ; but this, on consultation with Mr. Adams, he found was impracticable. Trumbull's description of his voyage home, which was exceedingly hazardous, is told in his autobiography with considerable literary power. On his return he became a contractor for army JOHN TRUMBULL supplies, and in this capacity he was at Wash ington's headquarters at New Windsor on the Hudson, during the winter of 1782—83. And here, he writes, " we received the news of the sign ing of the preliminary articles of peace, and an end was thus put to all further desultory pur suits. It was now necessary for me to deter mine upon a future occupation for life." There was a commercial side to Trumbull's \character, and he now considered proposals for , engaging in mercantile affairs. While in college his father had wished him to enter the ministry ; now he wanted him to enter the legal profes sion. On his expressing his decided preference for art, " dwelling on the honors paid to artists in Greece and Athens," his father replied, " Yes, my son, but you appear to forget that Connecti cut is not Athens." Nevertheless he now reached a final decision, and thence on his career is prin cipally that of an artist. He again sailed for London in January, 1784, and went immediately to Mr. West, in whose home he remained as a pupil. His father had given him a letter to Edmund Burke thank ing him for the kindness shown his son while in prison. Burke advised him to study architec ture, for, said he, "you must be aware that you 16 JOHN TRUMBULL belong to a young nation which will soon want buildings, and these must be erected before the decorations of painting and sculpture will be re quired." He counselled Trumbull to study architecture thoroughly and scientifically, in order to qualify himself "to superintend the erection of these buildings," adding — " decorate them also, if you will." Burke being the friend of Sir Joshua Rey nolds, and learning of Trumbull's predilection for history and his intention to study with West, did not regard this preference with cordiality. But Trumbull resumed his studies in West's studio, and in the evenings drew at the Academy. He made a copy of West's picture of the Battle of La Hague, and this task, he says, was of the greatest importance to him. In the autumn of 1785 he was invited by the Rev. Mr. Preston, of Chevening, in Kent, to pass a week at his house. The library of Mr. Preston (which was eventually bequeathed to the library in Philadelphia) " was rich in works relating to the arts," and these Trumbull studied attentively. Here, he says, he " made his first attempt at the composition of a mili tary scene, taken from the War of the Revolu tion; it was a small sketch in India ink, on 17 JOHN TRUMBULL paper, of the death of General Frazer at Bemus's Heights." He continued his studies under West, and at the Academy, and " began to meditate seriously the subjects of national history, events of the Revolution," which, he adds, "became the great object of my life." The death of General War ren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, and of Gen eral Montgomery in the attack on Quebec, were first decided upon. These, he says, "were the earliest important events in point of time, and I not only regarded them as highly interesting passages of history, but felt that in painting them I should be paying a just tribute of gratitude to the memory of eminent men who had given their lives for their country." <, These pictures were both painted in West's \ studio. On one occasion as a party of Mr. West's friends were assembling to dine with the artist, the party including Sir Joshua Reynolds, the latter on entering the studio hastily went for ward to the picture that stood on the easel, Mr. i West having placed Trumbull's Battle of Bunker's Hill, then nearly completed, where it could be seen to advantage and in a good light. Sir Joshua, mistaking it for West's performance, I praised it highly ; to which the host replied, iS JOHN TRUMBULL " You mistake, Sir Joshua, this is not mine ; it is the work of this young gentleman, Mr. Trum bull." Sir Joshua, Trumbull says, was some what disconcerted. Mr. West watched the progress of these two pictures with great interest and encouraged the young artist to persevere in the work of the his tory of the American Revolution, recommend ing that he should have the series engraved, and explaining to him all the details necessary for this. Through Mr. Poggi, the publisher, the scheme was projected, but it was found that there was no engraver of the first class in England who was then disengaged. The Battle of Bunk er's Hill when completed was sent to Professor Mulier, at Stuttgart, who undertook the work. Mr. C. Edwards Lester, in his "Artists of America," begins his sketch of Trumbull with the following : "In a letter written by Goethe to Schiller, from Stuttgart, the 30th of August, 1 797, he says, ' I found Professor Mueller work ing at a portrait of Graff, painted by himself. He is also busy with the death of a general, and that an American, a young man who fell at Bunker's Hill. The picture is by an Ameri can, Trumbull, and has merits of the artist, and faults of the amateur. The merits are very '9 JOHN TRUMBULL characteristic and admirably handled portrait faces — the faults, disproportion between the dif ferent bodies and between their parts. It is composed relatively to the subject right well, and for a picture in which there must be so many red uniforms, is very judiciously colored; yet at first view it makes a glaring impression, until one gets reconciled to it on account of its merits. The engraving makes a very good {whole and is in its parts excellently done. ' " This is of interest as coming from the great "German poet, who evidently was impressed with the work. In this picture Trumbull shows him self to be an expert draughtsman. The incident is well chosen, the action is at its height and the characters are all absorbed in it ; the arrange ment is admirable. It is commonly supposed that Trumbull wit nessed the battle as herein depicted. He saw the smoke of the action from Roxbury, and from that distance, four miles away, considering the topography of the intervening country, he only knew of the progress of the fight from the smoke and noise of musketry, and the burning of the village of Charlestown. His picture is the more remarkable, therefore, as a product of his im aginative genius working upon carefully collated JOHN TRUMBULL facts gathered from various sources, from per sons actually engaged in the fight, and from sketches made on the spot at a later day. That this picture has the character of an impression received by an eye-witness is a triumph of art, and the historic a^ccuraeyLoXthe work is matched by the technical skill with which it is executed. That Trumbull should have produced this mas terpiece at the beginning of his career as an artist is only another form of evidence, often re marked of greater masters, that genius seems to require no preparation, that it is born with its powers already matured. Commenting on the character of the aca demic training in art then in vogue, Mr. John Durand remarks: "This method may be charac-. terized as the 'old-master' method. It consisted in drawing from the antique and copying pic tures executed by the old masters, oh the theory that such a course of study enabled a pupil to obtain proper notions of color and design, as well as superior conceptions of beauty and the ideal. This theory in England was held to be orthodox. The practice of the Renaissance ar tists, together with a study of the forms of Greek art, was the right thing ; natural currents of feel ing, coupled with direct study of Nature, JOHN TRUMBULL through which feeling expressed itself, was not regarded as the true source of artistic develop ment. Certain literary authorities, moreover, with minds more affected by erudition than by natural sensibility, better judges of the old wine of art than the good qualities of the new, established a standard of criticism for the public and amateurs, until it got to be a fashion to con sider all art that was not ' high art ' as not worth looking at. An appeal to Nature for inspira tion and expression, independently of such au thorities, was consequently never thought of. . . Trumbull was brought up, as the saying is, ac cording to the old-master method. Fortunately for him, as well as for Washington Allston, who pursued art under the same influences and at the same time, but who was less emancipated from its thraldom, they had genius, and were original in spite of the method." Trumbull's drawings from the nude-life, made at the Academy, show a careful study of the living figure, with " a ten dency to invest such subjects with ideal interest." Trumbull had met Thomas Jefferson in London, in 1785, and writes of him in his au- , tobiography : "He had a taste for the fine arts and highly approved my intention of preparing myself for the accomplishment of a national THOMAS JEFFERSON FROM THE "DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE' JOHN TRUMBULL work. He encouraged me to persevere in this, and kindly invited me to Paris to see and study the fine works there and to make his house my home during my stay." Trumbull availed him self of the invitation and was kindly received. He had with him his two paintings, the Battle of Bunker's Hill and the Death of Montgomery, and these met Jefferson's warm approbation. It was during this visit that he began his Declaration of Independence, "with the assistance of Jefferson's information and advice." Trumbull was well received by the principal artists of Paris, by Le Brun and David particu larly — the latter, he says, becoming his warm and efficient friend ; also by Houdon, the sculp tor, and others. His journal, in Paris, gives a detailed account of his life there, principally re ferring to his study of works of art. He " found David, in his studio in the old Louvre, at work upon his Horatii receiving their swords from their father" upon which he comments as follows: " Figures large as life, the story well told, draw ing pretty good, coloring cold." Of Le Brun's pictures he says: "The coloring is all that is bad, and after seeing such works as Rubens, quite insufferable. . . While they have infinite merit as compositions, and are great in point of 23 JOHN TRUMBULL drawing, they are, as colored pictures, bad as possible." This indicates Trumbull's independ ence of judgment, while it suggests that he had already formed his mind in matters of art. His own pictures drew forth much praise from the artists of Paris, and among others the Count de Moustier, Marquis Cubiere, M. D'Hancharville and M. Boileau, called to see them and praised them highly. In November, 1786, Trumbull returned to London, his brain, he writes, "half turned by the attention which had been paid to my paint ings in Paris, and by the multitude of fine things I had seen." He resumed work upon other sub jects of the history of the American Revolution, "arranging carefully the composition for the Declaration of Independence, and preparing this for receiving the portraits," as he might "meet with the distinguished men who were present at that illustrious scene." He adds, " Mr. Adams, in the summer of 1787, having taken leave of the Court of St. James, and combed the powder out of his hair, I took that opportunity to paint his portrait in the picture." While staying with Mr. Jefferson in Paris, Trumbull painted the portraits of the French officers who appear in his picture of the Sur- 24 JOHN ADAMS PAINTED IN 1792, WHEN VICE-PRESIDENT JOHN TRUMBULL render of Cornwallis, and he says he regards these as the best of his small portraits. He returned again to Paris in 1789, and witnessed the be ginning of the French Revolution — the de struction of the Bastile, etc., and " on one occa sion attended the Marquis de La Fayette in a successful attempt to calm a mob of workmen in the Fauxbourg St. Antoine." Soon after this the Marquis invited him to breakfast at an early hour, and alone, and disclosed to Trumbull " his views of the situation and the hopes he enter tained, in common with M. Condorcet and the Duke de la Rochefaucault, of gaining for France a constitution and form of government resem bling that of England, " into the details of which he entered at length, and desired Trumbull on his return to America to communicate this to Washington (Autobiography, pp. 1 51-153). It was at this time that Mr. Jefferson offered Trum bull the position of Secretary, which the latter de clined in an interesting letter from London, dated June 11, 1789. He excuses himself for declining Mr. Jefferson's offer by stating his views of the responsibilities upon which he has entered in connection with his profession : " To preserve and diffuse the memory of the noblest actions; to impart to future generations the JOHN TRUMBULL glorious lessons of human rights, and of the spirit with which these should be asserted and supported ; and to transmit to posterity the per sonal resemblance of those who have been great actors in those illustrious scenes, are objects that give dignity to my profession, peculiar to my situation from having borne personally a humble part in the great events I am to describe. No other artist now living possesses this advantage, and no one can come after me to divide the honor of truth and authenticity, however easily I may hereafter be exceeded in elegance. I feel therefore some pride in accomplishing a work, such as has never been done before, and in which it is not easy that I should have a rival." After mentioning the delays that had impeded the publishing of his prints, he concludes : " The most serious reflection is, that the memory and enthusiasm for actions however great, fade daily from the human mind ; the warm attention which the nations of Europe once paid to us, begins to be diverted to objects more nearly and immediately interesting to themselves." In November, 1789, Trumbull returned home and found the Government of the United States organized under the new constitution with General Washington as President. He says, "I 26 PRESIDENT WASHINGTON J793 JOHN TRUMBULL lost no time in communicating to him the state of political affairs, and the prospects of France, as explained to me by M. La Fayette; and hav ing done this, proceeded immediately to visit my family and friends in Connecticut. My excel lent father had died in 1785, at the age of sev enty-five. My brother, and my friend, Colonel Wadsworth, of Hartford, were members of the house of representatives in Congress, which was to meet in New York early in December. With them I returned to New York for the purpose of pursuing my work for the Revolu tion ; all the world was assembled there, and I obtained many portraits for the Declaration of Independence, Surrender of Cornwallis, and also that of General Washington in the battles of Trenton and Princeton, and in April, 1790, I of fered my subscription for the first two engrav ings, from the pictures of Bunker's Hill and Que bec, which had at last been contracted for with Mr. Mulier of Stuttgart in Germany, and Mr. Clements of Denmark. I obtained the names of the president, vice-president, ministers, sev enteen senators, twenty-seven representatives, and a number of the citizens of New York. In May I went to Philadelphia, where I obtained some portraits for my great work, and a nura- 27 JOHN TRUMBULL ber of subscribers. I returned to New York in July, where I was requested to paint for the corporation a full-length portrait of the Presi dent. I represented him in full uniform, stand ing by a white horse, leaning his arm on the saddle; in the background a view of Broadway in ruins, as it then was, the old fort on the termination ; British ships and boats leaving the shore, with the last of the officers and troops of the evacuating army, and Staten Island in the distance. The picture is now in the common council-room of the City Hall. Every part of the detail of the dress, horse, furniture, etc., as well as the scenery, was accurately copied from the real objects." In September he went to New Hampshire, and, he writes : " Obtained the heads of several statesmen and military officers for my great work, and in Boston received a handsome addi tion to my list of subscribers, I returned through Connecticut to Philadelphia, to which place Congress had adjourned from New York. In February I went to Charleston, S. C, and there obtained portraits of the Rutledges, Pinck- neys, Middleton, Laurens, Heyward, etc., and a handsome addition to my list of subscribers. On the 1 7th of April I sailed for Yorktown in Vir- 28 JOHN TRUMBULL ginia, and there made a drawing on the spot where the British Army, commanded by Lord Cornwallis, surrendered in 1 78 1 ; thence rode to Williamsburg, and obtained a drawing of Mr. Wythe for the Declaration; thence to Rich mond; thence to Fredericksburg, and obtained a drawing of General Weeden for the Battle of Trenton ; thence to Georgetown, where I found Major L' Enfant drawing his plan for the city of Washington ; rode with him over the ground on which the city has since been built; where the Capitol now stands was then (May, 1791) a thick wood." On his return to New York Trumbull was commissioned to paint for the corporation a whole-length portrait of General Clinton, which is now in the common council-room of the City Hall. The background of this picture repre sents British troops storming Fort Montgomery, in the Highlands (where the General com manded) and the burning of two frigates in the North River; this background was one of his favorite compositions. In the meanwhile he was pushing his sub scription-list for the engravings from his pic tures, and the following letter was written by General Washington to the Marquis de Lafay- 29 JOHN TRUMBULL ette in furtherance of his project for securing subscribers in France: "Philadelphia, Nov. 21, 1791. "My Dear Sir — Mr. John Trumbull, with whom you are acquainted, is engaged in paint ing a series of pictures of the most important events of the Revolution in this country, from which he proposes to have plates engraved. I have taken peculiar satisfaction in giving every proper aid in my power to a subscription here supporting his work, which likewise has been patronized by the principal people in this coun try. " In the hope of meeting the patronage of the French nation, to whose honor as well as that of America, this plan is directed, Mr. Trumbull informs me that he has ordered a subscription to be opened in Paris; and the object of this letter is to engage you to support the subscription in that city, and in other parts of the nation, where it may be offered. " I should not, however, do justice to Mr. Trumbull's talents and merits, were I not to mention his views and wishes on this occasion. His pieces, so far as they are executed, meet the applause of all who have seen them; the 30 JOHN TRUMBULL greatness of the design, and the masterly execu tion of the work, equally interest the man of capacious mind, as the approving eye of the connoisseur. He has spared no pains in obtain ing from the life, the likenesses of those charac ters, French as well as American, who bore a conspicuous part in our Revolution ; and the suc cess with which his efforts have been crowned, will form no small part of the value of his pieces. "To you, my dear sir, who know Mr. Trumbull as a man and as an artist, it would perhaps have been hardly necessary to say so much as I have done on this occasion; but I could not in justice say less of him, when I be lieve that in his profession he will do much honor to the liberal art of painting, as well as to this his native country. " I cannot conclude this letter without con gratulating you most sincerely on the King's acceptance of the constitution presented to him by the National Assembly, and upon the happy consequences which promise to flow to your country, as well as to mankind in general from that event. The prayers and wishes of the friends of the human race have attended the exertions of your nation ; and when your affairs 3' JOHN TRUMBULL shall be completely settled under an energetic and equal government, the hearts of good men will be gratified ; and no one will rejoice in your felicity, and for the noble and disinterested part you have acted, more than your sincere friend and truly affectionate servant, "Geo. Washington." In 1792 Trumbull was again in Philadel phia, and there painted the full-length portrait of General Washington, which is now in Yale University. Of this portrait he remarks : " The best certainly of those which I painted, and the best, in my estimation, which exists, in his he roic military character." In 1793 Trumbull visited Boston, going by way of Newport and Providence, and " obtained drawings of Mr. Ellery, Colonel Olney, Judge Howel, etc. Wherever I went," he says, " I offered my subscription-book, but wretched now was the success, and rapidly decreasing the en thusiasm for my national work." The French Revolution now wholly absorbed the attention of the public. " In the meantime," he writes, " the ag gressions of Great Britain upon our commerce became intolerable, and the question of peace or 32 JOHN JAY J793 FIRST CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES JOHN TRUMBULL war with her came to be seriously agitated. The President determined to try the effect of nego tiation, and John Jay, Chief Justice of the Uni ted States, was appointed envoy extraordinary to Great Britain. He did me the honor to offer me the position of secretary, and I accepted the proposal with pleasure." In May, 1794, they embarked. While in London, Trumbull received from Mr. Pickering, then Secretary of State, a com mission and instructions appointing him " agent for the relief and recovery of American seamen impressed by Great Britain." At the same time he received notice from the commissioners " ap pointed by the two nations to carry into execu tion the seventh article of the late treaty, relat ing to the damage done to the commerce of the United States by irregular and illegal captures by British cruisers," naming him as " the fifth com missioner." The others were Christopher Gore and William Pinckney on the part of the Uni ted States, and John Nichol and Dr. Swabey on the part of Great Britain. Trumbull was to rep resent both nations. He declined the first ap pointment in favor of the second, and thence on, for some years, his time was largely absorbed by the duties attending the work of this commission. 33 JOHN TRUMBULL During a recess, in July, 1797, he visited Stuttgart, to ascertain how Professor Mulier was getting on with the engraving of the Battle of Bunker's Hill. He " found the plate admirably en graved, and requiring very little additional work." On his return to Paris he was " received with civility by M. Talleyrand, ahd invited to dine with the minister, meeting Madame de Stael, Lucien Bonaparte, Count Lorigny, and others." During the dinner Madame de Stael attempted to engage him in conversation on the subject of American affairs, but the minister cut her short with, " But, Madame de Stael, no body talks politics here." When the Commission for the settlement of claims against Great Britain dissolved, after a seven years' residence in London Trumbull re turned to America in 1 804. On the 4th of July, he says, he dined with the Society of the Cin cinnati, meeting many of his old comrades, and also General Hamilton and Colonel Burr. He remarks, "The singularity of their manner was observed by all, but few had any suspicion of the cause. Burr, contrary to his wont, was silent, gloomy, sour ; while Hamilton entered with glee into all the gaiety of a convivial party, and even sang an old military song." Only a few 34 ALEXANDER HAMILTON YALE SCHOOL OF THE FINE ARTS JOHN TRUMBULL days passed, however, when "the wonder was solved by that unhappy event which terminated the life of Hamilton." Finding Gilbert Stuart established as a por trait painter in Boston, Trumbull decided to set tle in New York, and here he was employed to paint for the city government full-length por traits of Mr. Jay and General Hamilton, the lat ter from the bust by Cerracchi. These, together with those of General Washington and Gover nor Clinton, were hung in the common-council room in the City Hall. At this time he also painted portraits of President Dwight, of Yale College, and Stephen Van Rensselaer ; these are both in the Yale collection. In 1808 Trumbull again sailed for London, where he was kindly received by Mr. West and many other old friends. After four years of fruitless effort to establish himself there in his profession, he was about to return to America when, in 1812, war was declared against Great Britain. With the restoration of peace Trum bull returned home, and settled in New York City. His friends, particularly Judge Nichol son, became interested in furthering his project for painting a series of historical pictures for the nation, the carefully-prepared studies, notes, 35 JOHN TRUMBULL sketches, etc., for which had been gathered with such diligence. Judge Nicholson accompanied the artist to Washington in furtherance of this plan, and interested several members of Con- gresssin the project, notably Mr. Timothy Pit kin of the House of Representatives. Some of the studies were put in the hall of the House, and in one of the debates on the subject " John Randolph was eloquent in commendation of the work," insisting that Trumbull should be em ployed to execute the whole series of eight commemorative pictures. (See Tuckerman's "Memorial of Greenough," p. 148.) A reso lution was finally passed, giving authority to the President to employ Trumbull to execute four pictures for the National Capitol. The choice of subjects, and the size, was left to the Presi dent, Mr. Madison, to determine. The sub jects chosen were the Declaration of Independ ence, the Surrender of Burgoyne, the Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and Washington Resigning his Commission. The price was to be $8,000 for each painting; the size 12x18 feet, with figures as large as life. Trumbull was eight years in executing these works, and in 1824 went to Washington to superintend the placing of them in position, in the rotunda of the Capitol. 36 JOHN TRUMBULL With the completion of this commission Trumbull's debts were paid, and he "began life anew." He was now sixty-eight years of age; his powers were by no means what they once were. It may be a slip of the pen when he says in his autobiography that he was now past seventy. He had lost his wife, and a sense of loneliness now crept over him, for he had no children ; but, he adds, " my hand was steady, and my sight good, and I felt the strength of life within." But too long a period had elapsed before his powers were enlisted in this com memorative work for the nation; he was not himself aware that the delay had been fatal to their best exercise. His thoughts now turned in his art to religious subjects, and later to re peating in a size of 6x9 feet, the subjects he had already executed for the National Capitol. With his declining years he began to con sider what he should do with his collection of historical studies, portraits and miniatures, which still remained in his possession. He first thought of Harvard College, as being well able to afford the purchase; but eventually they became the property of Yale, Trumbull receiving as an equi valent a life-annuity of $ 1 ,000, which he con tinued to draw for twelve years, or until the 37 JOHN TRUMBULL time of his death. The indenture was drawn up by President Day, on the 1 9th of December, 1 8 3 1 , in the name of the President and Fellows of Yale College. To' the number of pictures specified in the original list, Trumbull added many others by subsequent gifts, most of which, however, were the productions of his later years, when his lamp lacked oil. During his residence in New York Trum bull was active in prosecuting his profession and in giving instruction in the Academy over which, for a time, he presided. An association had early been formed in New York "for promot ing the Fine Arts," of which Chancellor Liv ingston was the first president. For a consider able period the institution was sustained with some vigor, but it finally lost its vitality, and in 1 8 16 had nearly ceased to exist. During that year, De Witt Clinton, who was then president of the association, originated and per fected a plan by which the association was re vived under the name of " The American Aca demy of Fine Arts." He resigned the presi dency, and at his nomination Trumbull was elected to fill the chair. Dunlap, who seems to have borne Trumbull ill-will, and who in his " History of the Arts of Design " takes no pains 38 MRS. TRUMBULL 25^x32 PAINTED BY JOHN TRUMBULL YALE SCHOOL OF THE FINE ARTS JOHN TRUMBULL to conceal this, intimates that the election of Trumbull gave great dissatisfaction; but appar ently there was no ground for this charge, and Trumbull continued to fill the president's chair until the formation of " The National Academy of Design," in 1825, with Samuel F. B. Morse as president. It is hardly to be expected that the popular estimates of the time could do Trumbull justice, and yet he was himself the means of promoting a respect for art, more conspicuously than any other artist of his day. At the time when he was producing his three or four principal works, at the beginning of his career — works which have made his name illustrious — the arts were held in light esteem in this country, if not through ignorance, perhaps from necessity. Trumbull strove to make his works popular by means of engravings, executed in the best man ner, and sold at a moderate price ; but the pro ject failed, so far as yielding him any adequate money return is concerned. In a MS. letter in the Yale Library, ad dressed to Thomas Jefferson, October 1, 1823, when he was delivering the engraving of the Declaration of Independence, Trumbull writes : " I have the pleasure of saying that not only has 39 JOHN TRUMBULL the engraving been finished with great beauty, but the printing has been executed with uncom mon success. It is delightful to me, that after the lapse of so many years, this work which I meditated, and you assisted me to arrange, at Chaillot, in the year 1786, is at last completed. Rarely does it occur that two individuals, ad vanced as we then were on the road of life, re main to see the completion of a favorite project at the end of thirty-seven years. The event was great beyond all others in the history of man; the actors in it were men who not only by that act, but by the consistent and undeviat- ing patriotism of their subsequent conduct de serve to live in the memory of mankind to the end of time; and I thank God that I have pos sessed (to use the beautiful language of Dr. Johnson) ' Calmness of mind, and steadiness of purpose ' to complete this memorial of such men and such an act. May I not, my dear sir, without excessive vanity, say with Horace, 'Monumentum exegi aere perennius,' will not my name live, under the shadow of their glory." There is this to be said of Trumbull: he be- i lieved fully in the dignity of his profession; he / was uncompromising in his own attitude and in I his demands of others with regard to this ; and 40 JOHN TRUMBULL he was always accorded a high respect by per-/ sons of distinction. In temperament he was high-strung, impetuous often, and exceedingly I sensitive. He had his enemies, but the shaft of malice never penetrated his knightly shield; he was a gentleman under all circumstances — by birth, by education, and by natural instinct. He gave, perhaps, too much thought to matters for eign to his profession and of comparatively little consequence in view of his acknowledged merits as an artist. His military experience was brief and unimportant — save as it aided to equip him^ for his commemorative works. As to his art, Trumbull's life divides into^ three distinct periods: the first, from 1786 to 1797, is marked by the execution of those bril liant works, widely known through engravings, namely, the Declaration of Independence, the Battle of Bunker's Hill, the Death of Montgomery, and a considerable collection of miniature portraits, in separate frames and others included in his Surren der of Cornwallis. To these may be added his Sortie from Gibraltar, his full-length portrait of Washington, and perhaps half a dozen other portraits painted at this time. The larger part of his best works are in the collection at Yale University. The paintings executed between 41 JOHN TRUMBULL (1786 and 1797 alone give Trumbull his place in art ; upon these works his reputation rests. The /second period, from 1797 to 1824, covers his later residence of seven years in London, and his longer residence in New York City, where he established himself as a portrait painter. This period is marked by an entire change of style, especially in his subject pictures, which gener ally were of religious or literary themes, some what in the style of, Benjamin West. It was during the latter part of this second period that Trumbull painted his four large pictures for the National Capitol, of which John Durand says: "No interest attaches to them as works of art." The third period, from 1824 to his death in I 1843, includes numerous pictures of various I kinds executed in his old age, nearly all of which Ishould have been destroyed — notably the replicas af his earlier historical works, now in the Wadsworth Athenseum at Hartford. It may be seen from this that Trumbull's reputation as an artist rests almost exclusively upon works executed between 1785 and 1797. The examples are few, but their merit is great- great enough to have made his name illustrious in the annals of American art. It is to the en graver principally that Trumbull owes his wide 4.2 BUST OF TRUMBULL BY BALL HUGHES YALE SCHOOL OF THE FINE ARTS JOHN TRUMBULL reputation, for those only who have seen his ear lier works at Yale, and the few important por traits in the City Hall in New York, can form a just estimate of his merits as a painter. The decline of his power is already foreshadowed in the general composition of his surrenders of Bur goyne and Cornwallis. When the first great im pulse which vitalized his art had spent itself, or when the motive that first enlisted his ardent sympathies had become a memory, his clear-sight was dimmed, and his art became only a faint echo of his earlier achievements. John Durand premarks : " Colonel Trumbull's artistic career may be considered as closed on the execution of his large pictures for the National Capitol. As an artist he can be thoroughly appreciated only ( through his works at New Haven." Scattered \ here and there are a few fine portraits — one, l^of "an artist," in the Wadsworth Athensum at Hartford, and one of his nephew, John M. Trum bull, painted in London, now in Minneapolis, are among his best. He painted rapidly, " av eraging five sittings to a head." There are five portraits of Trumbull: one painted by himself in 1833, and engraved in his memoirs ; two by Waldo and Jouett, — one of these is in the Yale School of the Fine Arts ; a 43 JOHN TRUMBULL small full-length by Twibill, now in the posses sion of the National Academy of Design ; one in the possession of Mrs. Benjamin Silliman, 3d; and one painted by Gilbert Stuart, owned by William Forbes Morgan, of New York. The portrait now in the Yale School of Fine Arts was engraved by A. B. Durand for the " Na tional Portrait Gallery." A miniature of Colonel Trumbull, by Robertson, " exists somewhere in England." A bust of Trumbull, by Ball Hughes, is in the Yale Art School at New Haven; and there was a medal of him issued by " The Amer ican Art Union." In closing his sketch of Trumbull, published in "The American Art Review," Mr. Durand says : " Such were the men who laid the founda tion of American character. I can only add, in conclusion, that Trumbull the artist is worthy to be named as the peer of his great friends and contemporaries, Washington, Jefferson and Frank lin, and is entitled to be associated with them in V the minds and memories of his countrymen." In a letter from Professor Benjamin Silli man, Sr., to Mr. Lester, written in 1 846, from New Haven, he says: "Colonel Trumbull wrote most of his autobiography in my house, to which he was invited by Mrs. Silliman, 44 JOHN TRUMBULL who was his niece. . . . He remained four years in our family. He then returned to New York, to be near his physician, Dr. Wash ington, and there remained until his death, November io, 1843, at tne age °f eighty- eight. By his own request his remains were brought to my house, whence his funeral pro ceeded to the College Chapel, where an appro priate and feeling historical discourse was de livered by the Rev. Professor Fitch. Eight of our principal citizens were bearers, the students and citizens forming a procession to the stone tomb, beneath the Trumbull Gallery, where his remains were laid beside those of his wife. . . His long and varied life, abounding in changes, and passed among the great men of the time, furnished him with a rich fund of historical anecdotes. . . . His conversational powers were extraordinary. . . . His veneration of Wash ington was very great; he regarded him as the greatest and best of men. Many letters of Washington, some of them long, and all of them parental and affectionate, are among his papers." When Mr. Augustus Russell Street erected upon the College Square a large and costly building for the accommodation of the School of Fine Arts, the remains of Colonel Trumbull 45 JOHN TRUMBULL were removed and deposited in a suitable recep tacle in the foundation beneath that end of the large gallery in which his collection of pictures is now placed, and which will remain a fitting memorial of the man. A marble slab in the basement, immediately over the grave, bears the following inscription : " Col. John Trumbull : Patriot and Artist : Friend and Aid of Washing ton : lies beside his wife beneath this Gallery of Art: Lebanon 1756-New York 1843." An inscription is also cut on the stone pier outside, immediately above the grave. 46 DESCRIPTIONS OF PAINTINGS BATTLE OF BUNKER'S HILI .YALE SCUOOL OF THE FINE ARTS - THE BATTLE OF BUNKER'S HILL: THE DEATH OF MONTGOMERY: AND THE SORTIE FROM GIBRALTAR IN a catalogue prepared by Colonel Trumbull in con nection with an exhibition of his pictures in the Gallery of " The American Academy of Fine Arts," in Chambers Street, New York City, in 1 831, he writes of the Battle of Bunker's Hill. " The painting repre sents the moment when (the Americans having expended their ammunition) the British troops became completely successful and masters ofthe field. At the last moment of the action, General Warren was killed by a musket ball through the head. The principal group represents him as expiring — a soldier on his knees supports him, and with one hand wards off the bayonet of a British grenadier, who, in the heat and fury natural at such a moment, aims to revenge the death of a favorite officer who had just fallen at his feet. Colonel Small (whose conduct in America was always equally distinguished by acts of humanity and kindness to his enemies, as by bravery, and fidelity to the cause he served) had been in timately connected with General Warren — saw him fall, and flew to save him. He is represented seizing the musket of the grenadier to prevent the fatal blow, and speaking to his friend — it was too late ; the General had 49 JOHN TRUMBULL barely life remaining to recognize the voice of friend ship ; he had lost the power of speech, and expired with a smile of mingled gratitude and triumph. Near him several Americans, whose ammunition is expended, al though destitute of bayonets, are seen to persist in a re sistance obstinate and desperate, but fruitless. Near this side of the painting is seen General Putnam, reluctantly ordering the retreat of these brave men ; while beyond him a party of the American troops oppose their last fire to the victorious column of the enemy. Behind Colonel Small is seen Colonel Pitcairn of the British Marines, mortally wounded, and falling into the arms of his son, to whom he was speaking at the fatal mo ment. General Howe, who commanded the British troops, and General Clinton, who, toward the close of the action, offered his service as a volunteer, are seen behind the principal group. On the right of the paint ing, a young American, wounded in the sword hand and in the breast, has begun to retire, attended by a faithful negro ; but seeing his general fall, hesitates whether to save himself, or, wounded as he is, to return and assist in saving a life more precious to his country than his own. Behind this group are seen the British column ascending the hill — grenadiers, headed by an officer bearing the British colors, mounting the feeble entrenchments ; and more distant, the Somerset ship- of-war (which lay during the action between Boston and Charlestown) ; the north end of Boston, with the battery on Cop's Hill ; and the harbor, shipping, etc., etc. No part of the town of Charleston is seen ; but the dark smoke indicates the conflagration." PAINTINGS ~ The lines of the composition are suggestive of the whirl and rush ofthe action, in the spirit of which the figures are all absorbed. The expression of the dying general is remarkable for its realistic truth, as is that of i every principal actor in the scene. The touch of the Wtist is skilful, and the coloring good — perhaps some- /what improved by the lapse of time, which has had the effect of toning down the " glaring effect " of the red uniforms noticed by Goethe. In his paper on John Trumbull, reprinted from the American Art Review, Mr. John Durand writes of this picture: " Variety of character, distinct personalities, each individual animated by a different impulse, every countenance expressing truthfully and powerfully the sentiment peculiar to each, the rush of an attacking force driving back through superior discipline a motley but equally courageous crowd of defenders, all blended together without confusion in the tumult and excite ment of battle; show a rare command of artistic resources and great dramatic ability. The leading idea is one of humanity — the attempt of a British officer, Colonel Small, to save the life of General Warren. This inci dent, the energetic action of General Putnam on the left, ordering a retreat of the American forces, the sym pathetic expression of the old soldier who is supporting General Warren on his knees, and lastly, the pallid features of the dying hero, form special examples of Colonel Trumbull's pictorial skill. This is the ideal he aimed at, an ideal which makes modern fine art ex plicable on the same theory as ancient art : while the latter displays a limited range of emotion, the former 51 JOHN TRUMBULL gives with equal fidelity to nature a series of emotions which were never dreamt of by the ancients. As to composition, which term, applied to plastic art, means the logical value and dispositions of forms to convey ideas, the Battle of Bunker's Hill is as masterly and original as any work of a similar kind extant." The Death of Montgomery, at the storming of Que bec, was painted by Trumbull in the studio of Benja min West, at the same time as his picture of the Battle of Bunker's Hill, and it is hardly less vital and admirable as a work of art. The central group, including the ex piring general, who has just been struck by a bullet and falls back into the arms of an officer, is executed with surprising skill. The touch is crisp, sure, and direct ; the drawing is faultless and the color admirable. The foreshortened features of the dying officer with the head thrown backward, the body gradually sinking to the ground, has an indescribable expression of death, trans fixing the form and rendering the body inert. The representation in this, as in the death of Warren, is re markable for its realism. In his catalogue of 183 1, Trumbull writes: "That part of the scene is chosen where General Montgom ery commanded in person ; and that moment, when by his unfortunate death, the plan of the attack was en tirely disconcerted, and the consequent retreat of his column decided at once the fate of the plan and of such of the assailants as had already entered the works at another point. The principal group represents the death of General Montgomery, who, together with his two aids-de-camp, Major McPherson and Captain 5* DEATH OF MONTGOMERY SORTIE FROM GIBRALTAR BOSTON ATHENiUM PAINTINGS Cheesman, fell by a discharge of grapeshot from the cannon of the place. The general is represented as expiring, supported by two of his officers and sur rounded by others, among whom is Colonel Campbell, on whom the command devolved, and by whose order a retreat was immediately begun. Grief and surprise mark the countenance of the various characters. The earth covered with snow — trees stripped of their foliage — the desolation of winter, and the gloom of night, heighten the melancholy character of the scene." Mr. Durand writes of this picture : " Dramatic power and truth of expression characterize this composition, as well as the Battle of Bunker's Hill, while in coloring it is superior." From it was engraved a large print by Clements of Denmark. The Sortie from Gibraltar was repeated five times by Trumbull, in various sizes. The large and fine en graving by Sharpe has made this picture widely known. Trumbull says of his various renderings of this subject: The first effort " was a small picture on a cloth four teen inches by twenty-one, on which I carefully drew and painted my figures from nature." This picture he presented to Mr. West, in acknowledgment of his great kindness to him. Mr. Durand says, "Finding that he had made a mistake in the color of the Span ish uniform, which he supposed to be white and red, _ he began the subject anew on a canvas twenty by thirty inches, the uniform being painted, as it should have been at first, blue and scarlet." This picture now be longs to the estate of the late John A. Burnham, of Boston. It had been taken from England to Rome 53 JOHN TRUMBULL by Lady Asburton, and there exchanged for other works of art, and came into the possession of Mr. Mc- Pherson and was returned to England. Of this picture Trumbull made the following minute in his memoran dum-book : "Portraits from life : intended for the en graver: 20x30 inches: finished 1788, and sold in 1803 to Sir Francis Baring for five hundred guineas." Among the same memoranda is the following ref erence to the large picture, six by nine feet, of the same subject, in the possession of the Boston Athenaeum, but now deposited in the Boston Museum of Art : " . . Finished in April, 1789, and exhibited at Spring Gardens the following month. . . ." " For this picture I was offered and refused 1,200 guineas." It was in 1828 sold to the Boston Athenaeum for 585,000. Lawrence posed for the dying Spaniard. Of another but smaller picture of the same subject, Professor Sil liman, Jr., says in a note (1882) : "I am told it is now in Guild Hall, London." There are two in Philadel phia — one at the Academy of Fine Arts, and the other in the possession of Mr. J. M. Fox. This picture had a great reputation and drew a large number of visitors when exhibited in London, perhaps this was largely due to the fact that it contained life like portraits of certain prominent officers of the British army. In composition it is greatly inferior to either the Battle of Bunker's Hill or the Death of Montgomery. It is somewhat melodramatic in action and is poor in color, while the body of troops breaking through the stockade, which forms a large mass of shadow on the left, is ill con ceived ; but the portrait heads are all admirably painted. 54 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE YALE SCHOOL OF THE FINE ARTS THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE THIS picture is the most important of Trumbull's works, not only from its great historical inter est as a unique pictorial record of that great event and for the authentic portraits therein brought together, but also because of its artistic merits. The three pictures that mark Trumbull's most brilliant achievement as an artist, are the Declaration of Independence, the Battle of Bunker's Hill, and the Death of Montgomery ; these three pictures may be said to be Trumbull's masterpieces, and it is the opinion of artists that they are properly so termed. In 1848, the sculptor Horatio Greenough wrote : " I believe I am speaking the sense of the cognoscenti, when I say that the Declaration of Independence has earned the respect of all who have watched the devel opment of American Art, and the admiration of those who have tried their hand at wielding a weighty and difficult subject. I admire in this composition the skilP with which Trumbull has collected so many portraits in formal session, without theatrical effort in order to en liven it, and without falling into bald insipidity by ad hering to trivial fact. These men are earnest, yet full/ 55 (i JOHN TRUMBULL of dignity ; they are firm yet cheerful ; they are gentle men ; and you see at a glance that they meant some thing very serious in pledging their lives; their fortunes, and their sacred honor." In a letter to Thomas Jefferson, bearing date of December 28, 18 17, Trumbull writes concerning the enlargement of this work for the National Capitol : " The picture will contain portraits of at least forty- seven members . . . for the faithful resemblance of thirty-six, I am responsible, as they were done by my self from the Life, being all who survived in 1791 " — when he began his studies for this picture. " Of the remainder," he adds, " nine are from portraits done by others. One, General Whipple, of New Hampshire, is from memory; one, Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia; is from description aided by memory." The portrait of Mr. Adams was painted in London ; that of Mr. Jefferson in Paris ; Mr. Hancock and Samuel Adams in Boston ; Mr. Rutledge in Charleston, S. C; Mr. Wythe at Williamsburg, Va.; Mr. Bartlett, at Exeter, N. H., etc., etc. It is said that Trumbull carried the small canvas now in the Yale School of Fine Arts, in his carriage; in a receptacle made for holding it, while in search of the original signers whose portraits he painted from life wherever he could find them, in various parts of the country. How far he did this directly upon the can vas, or from pencil studies, is uncertain; for the tech nical execution of the heads in the original picture bears no trace of their having been painted under different lights, or at different times, with the exception of three 56 PAINTINGS or four on the extreme left of the composition, which evidently were painted in a later day, after Trumbull had lost his crisp, accurate, and spirited touch. The assemblage of these variously executed por traits in a single harmonious composition, adjusted to the color scheme and the requirements of the perspec tive, presented a problem exceedingly difficult to man age. Within the limits of historic truth and the require ments of art Trumbull has succeeded in making his composition interesting by skilful groupings. He says : " In order to give some variety to the composi tion, I found it necessary to depart from the usual practice of reporting an act, and made the whole com mittee of five advance to the table of the president to make their report, instead of having the chairman rise in his place for the purpose ; the silence and solemnity of the scene offered such real difficulties to a pictur esque and agreeable composition as to justify this de parture from custom and fact. The room is copied from that in which Congress held its sessions at the time — such as it was before the spirit of innovation laid unhallowed hands upon it, and violated its venera ble walls by so-called modern improvement." John Durand, the translator of Taine's works on Art, says: "The portraits of Richard Henry Lee, George Clinton, Samuel Adams, Robert Morris, George Clymer (the smallest, and an inimitable head), with those of the group standing before Hancock — John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, Jefferien and Franklin — are comparable to the finest limning of Meissonier. . . On comparing the heads of 57 JOHN TRUMBULL Lynch, Chase, Rush and Stockton (executed at a later day) with those above mentioned, the difference in style is so plain as to make it evident, even to an un practised eye, that the hand had lost its cunning." In his own account of this work Trumbull says: " To preserve the resemblance of the men who were the authors of this memorable act, was an essential object of this painting. Important difficulties pre sented themselves at the outset; for although only ten years had elapsed since the date of the event, it was already difficult to ascertain who were the individuals to be represented." He questioned "whether he should regard the fact of having been actually present in the room on the 4th of July, as indispensable;" or should he " admit those only who were in favor of, and reject those who were opposed to the act;" and where a person was dead, and no authentic portrait could be obtained, should he admit ideal heads? These were questions," he says, "on which Mr. Adams, and Mr. Jefferson were consulted, and they concurred in the advice, that with regard to the characters to be intro duced, the signatures of the original act . . . ought to be the guide." That portraits should be admitted likewise " of those who were opposed to, and of course did not sign, as well as those who voted in favor of the Declaration, and did sign it ; particularly John Dick inson of Delaware . . . who was the most eloquent and powerful opposer of the measure ; not indeed of its principle, but of the fitness of the time, which he considered premature." Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams also recommended that where it was impossible to 58 PAINTINGS obtain a likeness, either from the life, or from some authentic portrait of the person, in case of death, the " artist should by no means admit any ideal represen tation, lest, it being known that some such were to be found in the painting, a doubt of the truth of others should be excited in the minds of posterity ; and that, in short, absolute authenticity should be attempted as far as it could be obtained." Thirteen of those who were present are not represented in the picture, as there were no likenesses to be obtained of them. The small picture, now in Yale University, is a priceless possession. Historically it is a unique pic torial record of that great event, in the sense of its be ing the original picture from which the larger repro ductions were copied, and was executed when Trumbull was at the height of his powers. The large picture, in the Capitol at Washington, and the later replica in the Wadsworth Athenaeum, at Hartford, are as if executed by another hand. That in the Capitol at Washington Greenough pronounced inferior to the original in color and effect, and " having a chalky, distemper-like tone, which is very unpleasing." (Memorial of Greenough, pp. 148-9.) It should be said of Trumbull's treatment of this momentous event, with its serious and exalted motive, that the artist's mind, in his conception of it, is well on the plane of the moral action : the picture is conceived from a noble and patriotic point of view ; and we feel that the artist who has presented to us this striking work, was in character and feeling himself a patriot and moved by an exalted sentiment. He resorts to no ex- 59 JOHN TRUMBULL pedients of artistic cleverness to heighten the dramatic interest; but rather values the simplicity of a scene, which, in the light of history, was to have grave and momentous issues. In choosing the Declaration of Independence and the Battle of Bunker's Hill as the two most memorable events of the Revolution, Trumbull's first impulse when he executed the smaller pictures, was wiser than the choice of his later years when he executed the com mission for Congress. For the first of these themes fixes in the minds of succeeding generations that solemn " Declaration " by which the fathers of the nation staked their lives and sacred honor in the cause of lib erty and independence ; while the second marks the initial act which led to the securing of this indepen dence by force of arms. All other acts that followed, legislative or military, were but subsidiary and conse quent upon these initial events. The surrenders of Cornwallis and Burgoyne, though important as leading to the termination of the war, were in the order of events of minor moral significance. To no other artist, and to no one historian, does the nation owe so great a debt of gratitude as to Trum bull. His pictures are much more than a pictorial record of historic events ; they are the presentation of those events in a vivid form that has stamped the im pression indelibly on the minds of millions in the suc ceeding generations, including those countless numbers who know the events of history in no other way than through monuments of art. In a letter to Lafayette, dated New York, October 60 PAINTINGS 20, 1823, Trumbull writes : " I have sent you . . . a small case containing a proof impression ... of a print which has been engraved here from my painting of the Declaration of Independence, by a young engraver (Asher B. Durand), born in this vicinity, and now only twenty-six years old. This work is wholly American, even to the paper and printing — a circumstance which renders it popular here, and will make it a curiosity to you, who knew America when she had neither painters nor engravers, nor arts of any kind, except those of stern utility." 61 PORTRAIT OF WASHINGTON IN 1792 Trumbull painted his full-length portrait of General Washington, which is now in the gallery at New Haven ; of this picture Trumbull writes : " It is the best, certainly, of those which I painted, and the best, in my estimation, which exists, in his military character." This portrait was originally intended for the city of Charleston, S. C, and was officially commis sioned by the local government ; but their representa tive through whom it was ordered seemed to think that the city authorities would prefer a portrait of Washington in his civic capacity as president. Trum bull writes in his autobiography : " Oppressed as the President was with business I was reluctant to ask him to sit again. I, however, waited upon him and stated Mr. Smith's objection, and he cheerfully submitted to a second penance, adding, c Keep this picture for your self, Mr. Trumbull, and finish it to your taste.'' I did so, and another was painted for Charleston agree able to their taste." When the Connecticut branch of the Society of the Cincinnati dissolved, the first pic ture, at the expense of some of the members, was pre sented to Yale College. Doubtless this portrait is 62 GENERAL WASHINGTON YALE SCHOOL OF THE FINE ARTS PAINTINGS more true to the normal appearance and personal char acteristics of Washington, of any of the numerous por traits painted from life. Stuart's Washington — the unfinished portrait now in the Boston Museum — has become the accepted likeness that is indelibly fixed in the minds of the people, and anything that varies from this is commonly thought to be less true. But in point of fact Stuart's portrait is very mannered, and the ex pressionless character of the mouth is said to have been due to an ill-fitting set of teeth with which Washing ton, late in life, had been inflicted by his dentist. Nev ertheless, whatever criticism may be made of the Stuart portrait, it has become irrevocably the orthodox like ness known to the world as the portrait of Washing ton ; and once the type becomes fixed in this way the impression is ineradicable. Trumbull claimed that his portrait represents Wash ington as he knew him, and as he was known to his associates, the members of his military family. It is a good portrait and many artists affirm that, from internal evidence, it doubtless is the truest likeness of the man. Trumbull claimed literalness for all the details of cos tume likewise, and this with a dryness of insistence that is hardly to be expected from an artist of his stand ing or merit. The horse that rears in the background is lifeless enough and ill-drawn, as was always the case with his representations of this animal ; and this is the more noticeable since Trumbull was a good draughts man, and the defect may only be accounted for on the ground of his not having studied the horse as carefully as he studied the human figure. 63 JOHN TRUMBULL Washington, in his diary, records, between Febru ary 1 2th and July 13, 1790, eleven sittings "for Mr. John Trumbull, for the purpose of drawing my pic ture." Under date of March ist he says : " Exer cised on horseback this forenoon, attended by Mr. John Trumbull, who wished to see me mounted." Tuckerman, in his Character and Portraits of Washing ton, says of this likeness : " Ask any elderly Knicker bocker what picture will give you a good idea of Washington, and he will confidently refer you to Trumbull's portrait. When Lafayette first beheld a replica of this picture on his visit to this country, in 1824, a few years before his death, he uttered an ex clamation of delight at its resemblance." Of this por trait John Durand wrote : " The portrait of General Washington by Trumbull, in the New Haven collec tion, must be regarded as a standard portrait of the Father of his Country. No artist saw more of Wash ington under circumstances so favorable to a study of his person and character, and none was honored by him with more sittings. Trumbull knew Washington at the outbreak of the war, when he was about forty- five, in the prime of life, and he was with him, as we have seen, in 1782 and 1783, at New Windsor, on the North River, and it is said that he painted a portrait of him from memory when he went to England. At all events, in 1790, Washington gave him sittings for two full-length portraits, one in civil costume, now at Charleston, S. C, and the other in military uniform, now at New Haven. . . Trumbull's aim in painting Washington, he says in his memoirs, was " to preserve 64 PAINTINGS the military character of the great original. . . In the countenance of the hero the likeness, the mere map of his face, was not all that was attempted ;" his object was to give " the high resolve stamping on the face and attitude the lofty purpose to conquer or to perish." Whether, in the effort to render ideal expression, Trumbull departed from strict accuracy of feature which would satisfy the realist, is an open question. His Washington differs from Charles Wilson Peak's two portraits, one painted while Washington was in the English service, before the Revolution, and the other during the war ; and also from Stuart's portrait, painted during Washington's Presidential term, for which the artist had sittings five years later than Trumbull, in 1795. LIST OF HISTORICAL PAINTINGS, POR TRAITS, MINIATURES, AND OTHER WORKS OF ART, BY JOHN TRUMBULL (IN THE YALE SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS, NEW HAVEN, CONN.) i Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775: size of canvas, 25x36 inches: painted in 1787 : con taining portraits of General Joseph Warren, General Israel Putnam — Americans ; and of General Howe, General Clinton, Major Pitcairn, Colonel Small, and Lieutenant Pitcairn — British. 2 The Death of Montgomery, in the attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775: size of canvas, 15x^6 inches: painted in 1787 : containing por traits of General Montgomery, Major McPher- son and Captain Cheesman. 3 The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 : size of canvas, 20x30 inches : painted during the years 1787 to 1795 : containing por traits of George Wythe (Va.) ; William Whip ple (N. H.); Josiah Bartlett (N. H.) ; Benja min Harrison (Va.) ; Thomas Lynch (S. C.) ; Richard Henry Lee (Va.) ; Samuel Adams (Mass.); George Clinton (N. Y.) ; William 66 PAINTINGS Paca (Md.) ; Samuel Chase (Md.); Lewis Mor ris (N. Y.); William Floyd (N.Y.); Arthur Middleton (S. C.) ; Thomas Hayward (S. C.) ; Charles Carroll (Md.) ; George Walton (Va.) ; Robert Morris (Penna.) ; Thomas Willing (Penna.) ; Benjamin Rush (Penna.) ; Elbridge Gerry (Mass.) ; Robert Treat Paine (Mass.) ; Abraham Clark (N. J.) ; Stephen Hopkins (R. I.) ; William Ellery (R. I.) ; George Cly- mer (Penna.) ; William Hooper (N. C.) ; Joseph Hewes (N. C.) ; James Wilson (Penna.) ; Fran cis Hopkinson (N. J.) ; John Adams (Mass.) ; Roger Sherman (Conn.) ; Robert R. Livingston (N. Y.) ; Thomas Jefferson (Va.) ; Benjamin Franklin (Penna.) ; Richard Stockton (N. J.) ; Francis Lewis (N. Y.) ; John Witherspoon (N. J.) ; Samuel Huntington (Conn.) ; William Williams (Conn.) ; Oliver Wolcott (Conn.) ; John Hancock (Mass.) ; Charles Thompson (Penna.) ; George Reed (Del.) ; John Dickinson (Del.) ; Edward Rutledge (S. C.) ; Thomas Mc- Kean (Penna.) ; and Philip Livingston (N. Y.) ; (arranged in the order of the numbering of the . key') Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, October 19, 1781 : size, 20x30 inches: painted in 1787, containing portraits of Count Deuxponts, Duke de Laval Montmorency, Count Custine, Duke de Lauzun, General de Choisy, Viscount Vio- menil, Marquis de St. Simon, Count Fersen, Count Charles Damas, Marquis de Chastellux, 67 JOHN TRUMBULL Baron de Viomenil, Count de Barras, Count de Grasse, Count Rochambeau, General Lincoln, Colonel Ebenezer Stevens, General Washington, Thomas Nelson, Marquis de La Fayette, Baron Steuben, Colonel Cobb, Colonel Jonathan Trumbull, Major-General James Clinton, Gen eral Gist, General Anthony Wayne, General Hand, General Peter Muhlenberg, Major- General Henry Knox, Lieutenant-Colonel E. Huntington, Colonel Timothy Pickering, Colo nel Alexander Hamilton, Colonel John Lau rens, Colonel Walter Stuart and Colonel Nicholas Fish (arranged in the order of the key). Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, Decem ber 26, 1776 : size of canvas, 20x30 inches : painted 1795 to 1799 : containing portraits of Colonel Wigglesworth, Colonel Shepherd, Colo nel Parker, James Monroe, Colonel Rohl (ofthe Hessians), Colonel William Smith, Colonel Har rison, Colonel Tilghman, General Washington, General Sullivan, General Green, General Knox, Brigadier-General Philemon Dickerson, Briga dier-General Glover, Brigadier-General Weldon and Lieutenant William Washington (in the order of the numbering of tbe key). The Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777 : size of canvas, 20x30 inches : painted about 1795 : containing portraits of Brigadier-General Mifflin, Lieutenant Trumbull, Dr. Rush, Colo nel Cadwallader, General Washington, Briga dier-General Mercer, Colonel B. G. Eyre, and 68 SURRENDER OF LORD CORNWALLIS YALE SCHOOL OF THE FINE ARTS PAINTINGS Captain Leslie of the Grenadiers (in the order ofthe key). 6a Battle of Princeton : spirited sketch in color on canvas, 25x36. 7 Surrender of General Burgoyne, October 16, 1777 : size, 20x30 inches : containing portraits of Major Lithgow, Colonel Cilley, General Stark, Captain Seymour, Major Hull, Colonel Greaton, Major Dearborn, Colonel Scammell, Colonel Lewis, Major-General Phillips (Brit ish), Lieutenant-General Burgoyne (British), General Baron Reidesel (German), Colonel Wilkinson, General Gates, Colonel Prescott, Colonel Morgan, Brigadier-General Rufus Put nam, Lieutenant-Colonel John Brooks, Rev. Mr. Hitchcock (Chaplain), Major Robert Troup, Major Haskell, Major Armstrong, Major-General Philip Schuyler, Brigadier-Gen eral Glover, Brigadier-General Whipple, Major Matthew Clarkson and Major Ebenezer Stevens (in the order of the numbering of the key). 8 Resignation of General Washington, Decem • ber 23, 1783 : size, 20x30 inches: containing portraits of Thomas Mifflin, Charles Thomson, Elbridge Gerry, Hugh Williamson, Samuel Osgood, Eleazer McComb, George Partridge, Edward Lloyd, Richard D. Spaight, Benjamin Hawkins, Abiel Foster, Thomas Jefferson, Arthur Lee, David Howell, James Monroe, Jacob Reid, James Madison, William Ellery, Jeremiah T. Chase, Samuel Hardy, Charles 69 JOHN TRUMBULL Morris, General Washington, Colonel Benjamin Walker, Colonel David Humphreys, General Smallwood, General Otho H. Williams, Colonel Samuel Smith, Colonel John E. Howard, Charles Carroll and two daughters, Mrs. Washington and three grandchildren, Daniel (of St. Thomas Jennifer) arranged in the order ofthe key. 9 General George Washington : full-length por trait : size of canvas, 63x92^ inches : painted in 1790. 10 President Washington: painted at Philadelphia in 1793: size of canvas, 24x30 inches. 11 Alexander Hamilton ; copied in 1832 from the original painted in 1792 : size of canvas, 24x30 inches. 12 The Duke of Wellington. Size of canvas, 24x32 inches. 13 Mrs. Trumbull, wife of the artist: size of can vas, 25^x32 inches. 14 Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer. Size of can vas, 27^x35^ inches. 15 Timothy Dwight, 1792. President of Yale Col lege : size of canvas, 40x50 inches. 16 Governor Jonathan Trumbull, Sr. Size of canvas, 40x50 inches. 17 Rufus King. Size of canvas, 25x30 inches. 18 Christopher Gore: painted in 1804: size of canvas, 25x30 inches. 19 Duke of Buckingham. Size of canvas, 28x33 inches. 70 PAINTINGS OIL MINIATURES ON WOOD 20 Henry Laurens, Pres't. of Congress, 1791. 21 John Jay, Chief Justice U. S., 1793. 22 John Adams, Vice-Pres., U. S., 1792. 23 George Hammond, Minister from Great Britain, 1792. 24 Temple Franklin, grandson of Dr. Franklin, 1 7 9 1 . 25 Nathanael Greene, Brigadier-General, 1792. 26 Col. William Hull, 1792. 27 Col. Thomas Stevens, 1791. 28 Capt. Thomas Seymour, 1792. 29 Gen. John Brooks, 1790. 30 Rufus King, U. S. Senator, 1792. 31 Fisher Ames, M. C, 1792. 32 The Infant, a chief of the Six Nations, 1792. 33 John Langdon, U. S. Senator, 1792. 34 John Brown, U. S. Rep., 1792. 3^ Harriet Wadsworth, 1791. 36 Faith Trumbull, 1791. 37 Mrs. Trumbull, Lebanon, Conn., 1793. 38 Catherine Wadsworth, 1792. 3^ Julia Seymour, 1792. 40 Signr. Cerracchi, Sculptor, 1792. 41 T. Dalton, U. S. Senator, 1792. 42 The Young Sachem, a chief of the Six Nations, 1792. 43 Theo. Sedgwick, M. C, 1791. 44 Oliver Ellsworth, U. S. Senator, 1792. 45 Gen. O. H. Williams, 1790. 46 Thomas Pinckney, 1791. 71 JOHN TRUMBULL 47 Judge Rutledge, 1 7 9 1 . 48 Charles C. Pinckney, 1791. 49 Gen. Wm. Moultrie, 1791. 50 William Smith, M. C, 1792. 51 Rufus Putnam, Brig.-Gen., 1790. 52 Jacob Reed, M. C, 1790. 53 R. Izard, U. S. Senator, 1791. 54 Col. Grimke, 1791. 55 Eleanor Custis, 1792. 56 Cornelia Schuyler, 1792. 57 Mrs. Washington, 1792. 58 Sophia Chew, 1793. 59 Harriet Chew, 1793. 60 Brig.-Gen. Smallwood, 1792. 61 Maj. Haskell, 1791. 62 Col. Morgan ofthe Rifle Corps, 1792. 63 Judge E. Benson, M. C, 1792. 64 Philip Schuyler, Maj.-Gen., 1792. 65 Jonathan Trumbull, Speaker of U. S. House of Rep's., 1792. 66 Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., Governor of Connecticut during the Revolution. 67 Good Peter, a chief of the Six Nations. 68 Dr. Lemuel Hopkins of Hartford, Ct., Poet and Physician, 1793. 69 John Trumbull, Author of " McFingal," 1794. 70 Judge Oakley, 1827. 71 Henry Dwight, M. C, 1827. 72 J. C. Calhoun, V. Pres., U. S., 1827. 73 Dr. Allen, 1827. 74 D. B. Ogden, 1827. 72 PAINTINGS 75 Maj.-Gen. Mifflin, Pres. of Cong., 1783. 76 S. Livermore, U. S. Senator, 1791. 77 Capt. Manning, 1791. 78 Gen. Richard Butler, 1790. 79 Arthur Lee, 1790. 80 The Woman taken in Adultery : size of canvas, 72x96 inches: painted in London, 1808-18 12. 8 1 St. John and Lamb : from memory of picture by Murillo. 82 The Earl of Angus conferring Knighthood on De Wilton ; size of canvas, 72x90 inches ; painted in London, 1808-18 12. (Sir Walter Scott's " Marmion.") 83 Holy Family. 84 Infant Saviour and St. John. 85 Lamderg and Gelchossa, Ossian's poem. Size of canvas, 60x90 inches. 86 Maternal Tenderness. 87 Our Saviour with Little Children : size of canvas, 68x96 inches, painted in London, 1808-1812. 88 Peter the Great at the Capture of Narva. 89 The Holy Family, Virgin and Infant Saviour, and Joseph the Carpenter, St. John with his Lamb : copy. 90 Joshua at the Battle of Ai, attended by Death. 91 The Last Family who Perished in the Deluge. 92 " I was in Prison and ye came unto me." g3 Copy ofthe Transfiguration by Raphael. 94 Copy of Correggio's picture called St. Jerome at Parma. (Painted in Tothill Fields Prison, 73 JOHN TRUMBULL near London, where the artist was confined on charge of High Treason during the winter of 1781.) 95 Copy of the "Madonna della Sedia," painted under direction of Mr. West. 96 Copy of Domenichino's Communion of St. Je rome. 97 Preparing the Body of our Saviour for the Tomb. 98 Copy of Raphael's Madonna au Corset Rouge. 99 Our Saviour Bearing the Cross and sinking un der its weight. 100 The Death of Paulus iEmilius at the Battle of Cannae. (Painted at Lebanon, 1774, at the age of eighteen, before the artist had received any instruction. The composition js all that is or iginal ; the figures were chosen from various en gravings.) PORTRAITS AND PICTURES IN OTHER COLLECTIONS Portrait of Washington: full-length: City Hall, New York City. Alexander Hamilton: full-length: City Hall, New York. General George Clinton: full-length: City Hall, New York. John Jay : full-length : City Hall, New York. Sortie from Gibraltar, November 27, 1871. Owned by the Boston Athenaeum : now in the Boston Museum of Art: size, 72x108 inches. There 74 OIL SKETCH FOR THE BATTLE OF PRINCETON BY JOHN TRUMRULL PAINTINGS ? are five known replicas of this picture, all of different sizes. Portrait of Alexander Hamilton : Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Portrait of Alexander Hamilton : Boston Muse um of Art. Portrait of Alexander Hamilton : Mrs. Henry Cabot, Boston. Owned by Mrs. Pendleton, Hosack, N. Y. Stephen Minot: Boston Museum of Art. Mrs. Stephen Minot : Boston Museum of Art. Governor Lewis : City Hall, New York. Sortie from Gibraltar, canvas, 36x44 : owned by Mr. William A. Burnham, of Boston. Sortie from Gibraltar : given to Benjamin West : whereabouts now unknown. Replica made for William Sharp to engrave from; owned by Robert O'Neill, Wickersham. Sortie from Gibraltar, 26x36: owned by Mr. J. M. Fox, of Philadelphia. Replica of Battle of Bunker's Hill : owned by the Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, Conn. (The series at Hartford were painted about 1832.) Size, 72x108 inches. Replica of the Battle of Trenton : owned by the Wadsworth Athenaeum. Size, 72x108 inches : painted late in life. Replica of the Battle of Princeton : owned by the Wadsworth Athenaeum. Size, 72x108 inches : painted late in life. Replica of the Declaration of Independence : 75 JOHN TRUMBULL owned by the Wadsworth Athenaeum. Size, 72x108 : painted late in life. Replica of the Death of Montgomery : owned by the Wadsworth Athenaeum. Holy Family : owned by the Wadsworth Athenaeum. Col. Wadsworth and His Son: 1784: replica: Wadsworth Athenaeum. Col. Samuel Osgood, owned by M. Augustus Field, of New York. Mrs. Samuel Osgood, owned by M. Augustus Field, of New York. Jonathan Trumbull Hudson : owned by Mrs. Elizabeth McK. Hudson, Stratford, Conn. Mrs. J. T. Hudson : owned by Mrs. Elizabeth McK. Hudson, Stratford, Conn. Miniature : owned by Robert W. DeForest, New York. Hon. Thos. Russell and His Wife, afterward Lady Temple : owned by Mr. Richard Sullivan, of Boston. Mrs. George Codwise (Miss Van Rantz) : owned by Mrs. Beatrice Codwise. Mrs. James Codwise (Miss Rogers) : owned by Mrs. Beatrice Codwise. Mrs. Trumbull on her death-bed : owned by Mrs. Lanman, Norwich, Conn. John M. Trumbull, nephew of Col. Trumbull : painted in London, in the artist's best manner : owned by Wm. H. Lee, Minneapolis, Minn. Portrait : owned by Mrs. Augustus B. Field, of New York. 76 PAINTINGS Portrait : owned by Mrs. Augustus B. Field, of New York. Portrait: owned by Miss Anna Eddy, of Eddys- ville, Mass. Portrait : owned by Miss Anna Eddy, of Eddys- ville, Mass. John Trumbull: painted in 1833: owned by Mrs. Benjamin Silliman, New York. Rev. D. Smalley : owned by the Historical Society, New York. Asher B. Durand : owned by the Historical Society, New York. Bryan Rossiter (in military uniform) painted in 1790 : owned by the Historical Society, New York City. Miniature of John Lawrence, owned by the His torical Society, New York. John Pintard : painted in 18 16. President Washington, National Museum, Wash ington, D. C. Mrs. Washington, National Museum, Washington, D. C. Original Study for Portrait of Washington and his horse : size, 25x33 : owned by Mr. Fernando Jones, Chicago, 111. Portrait : deposited in the Museum ofthe Brooklyn Institute. Brutus (early attempt): Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hart ford, Conn. The Falls of Niagara : 2 studies : Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, Conn. 77 JOHN TRUMBULL Mrs. L. H. Sigourney: size, 25x30: Wadsworth Athenaeum. Gov. and Mrs. Jonathan Trumbull, Sr. : size, 50x40 : Wadsworth Athenaeum. Copy of Rubens' Elevation of the Cross : size, 42^x59^ : Wadsworth Athenaeum. Portrait of an Artist : size, 25x30 (one of his best portraits) : Wadsworth Athenaeum. Copy of Titian's Scourging of Christ: size, 28^x45^: Wadsworth Athenaeum. The Duke of Wellington : Wadsworth Athenaeum. Gen. David Humphreys : size, 20x24 : Wadsworth Athenaeum. Gov. Jonathan Trumbull : size, 20x24 : Wadsworth Athenaeum. Infant Saviour and St. John : figures copied from Raphael : size, 25x30 : Wadsworth Athenaeum. Mrs. Lynde : owned by Mrs. Susan L. Oliver, of Boston. Mrs. Christopher Gore : owned by Mrs. Samuel T. Morse, of Boston. Small Full- Length of Washington : Size, 25x30 ; painted in London ; probably the one done from memory: owned by Mr. Charles A. Munn, New York. Formerly belonged to M. de Neufville, of Amsterdam : Engraved by Valentine Green. Mrs. Nathaniel Prime : owned by Mr. Francis C. Lowell, of Boston. Lady of the Lake : owned by Mr. Wm. C. Lan- man, Norwich, Conn. 78 PAINTINGS Mr. George Gallagher : owned by Dr. Geo. G. Hopkins, Brooklyn, N. Y. Portrait, owned by Mrs. Edward B. Huntington, Norwich, Conn. Portrait, owned by Mrs. Edward B. Huntington, Norwich, Conn. Thomas Russell, Esq., owned by Mr. Richard Sulli van, Boston. Mrs. Thomas Russell, owned by Mr. Richard Sulli van, Boston. The Declaration of Independence: size, 12x18 feet : in the Rotunda of the Capitol, Washing ton, D. C. The Surrender of Burgoyne: size, 12x18 feet: in the Rotunda ofthe Capitol, Washington, D. C. The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis: size, 12x18 feet : in the Rotunda of the Capitol, Washing ton, D. C. Washington Resigning His Commission : size, 12x18 feet: in the Rotunda of the Capitol, Washington, D. C. (These four pictures were commissioned by Congress in 1 8 16 and the last was completed in 1824.) Portrait of a Lady : Lenox Library, N. Y. Priam and the Body of Hector : Boston Athe naeum. Portrait of Mr. Rogers: owned by Mr. Ward Hunt. Portrait of Judge Samuel Miles Hopkins: size, 40x50 inches: owned by Dr. Geo. G. Hopkins, Brooklyn, N. Y. 79 JOHN TRUMBULL Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Hopkins : owned by Dr. Geo. G. Hopkins, Brooklyn, N. Y. Dr. Lemuel Hopkins : owned by Dr. Geo. G. Hopkins, Brooklyn, N. Y. Francis Taylor Winthrop : owned by Mrs. Deane Pratt, Saybrook, Conn. Mrs. F. T. Winthrop : owned by Mrs. Deane Pratt, Saybrook, Conn. CERTIFICATE OF COLONEL TRUMBULL'S MEMBERSHIP IN THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI