John Trumbull
American painter, 1756 - 1843
John Trumbull was an American painter, architect, and soldier from Lebanon, Connecticut. He served as an aide-de-camp to George Washington during the American Revolutionary War before studying under Benjamin West in London. In 1786, Trumbull began painting The Declaration of Independence, traveling across Europe and the United States to capture 36 of the portraits from life. In 1817, the U.S. Congress commissioned him to replicate, on a monumental scale, a painting for the Capitol Rotunda. Trumbull later served as president of the American Academy of the Fine Arts from 1816 to 1836.