This is a copy of an 1867 engraving by Waterman Lilly Ormsby, based on an 1818 painting by John Trumbull. It shows the Committee of Five who drafted the Declaration of Independence – Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston and Benjamin Franklin – presenting it to John Hancock, president of the Congress, in the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. Trumbull’s original painting is on display in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol.
It comes from a series of records from the George Washington Bicentennial Commission, which planned and celebrated the birth and accomplishments of Washington and collected, preserved, and published writings, artworks, and photographs pertinent to his life and times.
