Before the advent of photography, motion pictures, and TV, it was artists and illustrators who provided a visual perspective of the world. Artistic renditions were the only means of seeing countries fight on land and sea. They depicted scenes of victorious generals and fallen heroes on the battlefield. They provided propaganda to promote historical achievement, national pride, and personal triumph.
Which brings us to John Trumbull, described by U.S. historian Elizabeth Bryant Johnston as “the painter of the Revolution.” Trumbull’s magnificent artistic depictions of the American Revolutionary War, including The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec, December 31, 1775 and The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777 adorn the walls of prominent museums and galleries. His portraits of George Washington, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton give ever-lasting life to these Founding Fathers. His most famous painting, Declaration of Independence, is viewed by 3 million-5 million people each year in the Capitol rotunda. But while Trumbull’s work is widely recognizable, we don’t know as much about the man who made the brushstrokes.
In Glorious Lessons: John Trumbull, Painter of the American Revolution, senior National Review editor Richard Brookhiser reveals an intriguing and sometimes complicated life. The painter, who often fancied himself a historian, was driven by a sense of purpose and belief. “Trumbull’s authority as a storyteller was a product of thought and desire, conviction and will. He made the story of the American Revolution visible because he wanted to.” Moreover, he “understood the American Revolution to be more than an episode of power politics, or even of colonials resisting imperial overlords. It was a true revolution, a profound change in how people thought about their political condition.”
Trumbull was born on June 6, 1756, in Lebanon, Connecticut. His family was highly successful in the realm of public service. His father, Jonathan, was a merchant who served as the last governor of Connecticut Colony under British rule and the first governor of the new state of Connecticut. One brother, Jonathan Jr., was the second speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, while the other, Joseph, was the Continental Army’s first commissary general.
Trumbull was equally intelligent and well spoken. He enjoyed learning languages and about ancient Rome. He began attending Harvard College at age 15 and graduated two years later. He was a loner and preferred to draw and read in solitude. He wanted to marry Harriet Wadsworth, but her untimely death led him to Sarah Hope Harvey, a “foreigner, without family or connections” who struggled to get along with his family.
His early life seemed relatively idyllic, save for one incident where he fell down a flight of stairs. He claimed this led to partial blindness several years later, although the author expressed some doubt about the connection. Regardless, it was a life-changing event. “Eyes are how painters see the world,” Brookhiser writes, “and the new worlds they make. Trumbull only had one left.”
Having lost sight in one eye didn’t stop him. “Politics and war surrounded his childhood,” but it was art that was his “personal passion.” This didn’t please his father, who wanted him to study law, and they often quarreled about his future. Trumbull would come to “share his father’s absorption in public life” but in his own unique way.
After serving in the Revolutionary War, in which he became an aide-de-camp to Washington, witnessed the Battle of Bunker Hill, and was accused of spying, Trumbull returned to Lebanon and resumed painting. It was recommended that he study under the tutelage of prominent artist Benjamin West in London, but he was concerned about his safety. He would make his way to France, where he “hobnobbed with America’s diplomats” like Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Quincy Adams in Paris. Franklin knew West and gave Trumbull a letter of introduction.
Trumbull became one of West’s pupils and struck up a friendship with Gilbert Stuart, soon to be America’s greatest portraitist. West, along with painter John Copley, served as an artistic influence and source of inspiration. He gave his young student “some career advice that was potentially far more consequential. Painters could make good money selling individual works; they could make better money from engravings.” Trumbull was initially hesitant but wisely followed his mentor’s lead.
Another important contact was Thomas Jefferson. He served as a host, friend, and admirer when Trumbull returned to Paris in 1786. Jefferson encouraged him “to include the Declaration of Independence in his revolutionary project” and provided a sketch of the room in Philadelphia’s State House where the Continental Congress had first met. By the time Trumbull returned to London, his masterpiece had started to take shape.
Where Glorious Lessons exceeds is in how it describes not merely the biographical details of one man’s life but the story of Trumbull’s quest to portray the great moments in history of his period, a personal art project that spanned 50 years.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Trumbull knew “history paintings” weren’t commonplace in the U.S. art market and created a long-running narrative for the Revolution. Washington, his “master and friend,” sat for him and was the subject of many great works, ensuring his painted form “would win the war, and the peace.” John Adams, who had been “so discouraging to Trumball’s proposal” when first presented with the artistic rendition of Declaration, “felt transported back in time” when he viewed it in the flesh. John Adams’s wife, Abigail, declared after looking at The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker’s Hill, June 17, 1775, “He teaches mankind that it is not rank or titles but character that concerns posterity.”
Trumbull, according to Brookhiser, “thought of himself as an artist, bound to the world of art,” but also “thought of himself even more as a recorder and interpreter of events.” Is this a valid assessment? Those who enthusiastically view his work in museums, galleries, and Yale University’s extensive collection seem to accept this view and his view of American history — which has, in a literal sense, become our own.
Michael Taube, a columnist for four publications (Troy Media, Loonie Politics, National Post, and Epoch Times), was a speechwriter for former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.