32 Inches High x 38 Inches Wide
Thomas Ball (1819-1911) created this relief after an early 19th century painting by John Trumbull that has been installed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda since 1826. Ball is perhaps best remembered for his equestrian sculpture of George Washington in the Boston Public Garden. Trumbull's painting depicts the famous scene, with some artistic liberties. For Ball’s relief, he decided to focus on the right half of Trumbull’s work that shows John Hancock, president of the Congress, receiving the Declaration from its main author, Thomas Jefferson. The future second President of the United States, John Adams, is the figure on the far left of the central group while Benjamin Franklin is seen on Jefferson’s left. Ball designed the relief for the pedestal of Richard Saltonstall Greenough’s sculpture of Benjamin Franklin (installed in 1856) located in front of Boston’s Old City Hall. Ball also sculpted a second relief (Item #789) for the pedestal while Greenough created another two, all four of which depict scenes in Franklin’s life.
Artist: Thomas Ball after John Trumbull
Museum/Location: Boston's Old City Hall
Time Period: Modern, 1856
1911 Catalog ID # - 10044
Sources:
Boston Art Commission. "Benjamin Franklin." Public Art Boston, http://www.publicartboston.com/content/benjamin-franklin.
City of Boston. "City Document No. 2: Annual Report of the Art Department for the Year Ending January 31, 1911." Documents of the City of Boston, for the Year 1911. In Four Volumes, vol. 1. City of Boston Printing Department, 1912. Pp. 7, https://books.google.com/books?id=7l8wAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
"Declaration of Independence." Architect of the Capitol, 29 Apr. 2016, https://www.aoc.gov/art/historic-rotunda-paintings/declaration-independence.
"Thomas Ball." Smithsonian American Art Museum, https://americanart.si.edu/artist/thomas-ball-218.
32 Inches High x 38 Inches Wide
Thomas Ball (1819-1911) created this relief after an early 19th century painting by John Trumbull that has been installed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda since 1826. Ball is perhaps best remembered for his equestrian sculpture of George Washington in the Boston Public Garden. Trumbull's painting depicts the famous scene, with some artistic liberties. For Ball’s relief, he decided to focus on the right half of Trumbull’s work that shows John Hancock, president of the Congress, receiving the Declaration from its main author, Thomas Jefferson. The future second President of the United States, John Adams, is the figure on
