The Declaration of Independence
Nathaniel Currier, American, 1813 - 1888
after John Trumbull, American, 1756 - 1843
about 1835-1856
Hand colored lithograph on wove paper
Image: 8 9/16 × 12 13/16 in. (21.7 × 32.5 cm)
Sheet: 10 1/16 × 13 7/8 in. (25.5 × 35.2 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College
PR.X.986.97
Publisher
N. Currier Lithographer, New York
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Inscriptions
Inscribed, in stone, lower left margin: LITH. & PUB. BY N. CURRIER,; inscribed, on stone, lower right margin: 2 SPRUCE ST. N.Y.; inscribed, on stone, lower center: THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. / JULY 4TH [TH in superscript and underscored] / JULY 4TH 1776. / 385.
Label
John Trumbull’s famous painting of the presentation of the Declaration of Independence was installed in the United States Capitol rotunda in 1826; although the scene is fictionalized, the painter made many of the portraits from life and even studied the architecture of Independence Hall. Cheap prints such as this one made Trumbull’s painting widely accessible; through its replication, the image became an iconic moment in early imaginations of American history. Placing Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Hancock at the center, the print canonizes them as Revolutionary heroes. The yellow color of the page is due to the deterioration of the inexpensive paper.
From the 2025-26 exhibition Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, curated by Michael W. Hartman (Jonathan Little Cohen Curator of American Art), Haely Chang (Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art), Elizabeth Rice Mattison (Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art), Ashley B. Offill (Curator of Collections), and Evonne Fuselier (Hood Museum Board of Advisors Mutual Learning Fellow)
Exhibition History
American Intellectual and Cultural History Through the Civil War, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, History 30, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 10-September 6, 1992.
Revolution Reconsidered: History, Myth, and Propaganda, Harteveldt Family Gallery and Owen Robertson Cheatham Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 18, 2025 - August 8, 2026.
Provenance
Source unknown.
Catalogue Raisonne
Peters (1976): 983; Conningham (1949): 1531; Gale Research (1983): 1664
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