Declaration of Independence Diorama

In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the nation, two additions join the museum’s Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900 exhibition: a freshly conserved diorama depicting the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a new Revolutionary War–era gallery titled Independence: 1770–1783.

Commissioned by the Portrait Gallery in 1968 and completed in 1969, a recently conserved large-scale, wax diorama by Bartlett Frost (1913–1997) depicts key members of the Second Continental Congress signing the Declaration of Independence. Last displayed at the museum during the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, it is modeled after John Trumbull’s iconic painting, The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 (1786–1820), which the artist painted at the urging of Thomas Jefferson. The diorama is introduced by an enlarged detail of Trumbull’s work that shows the “Committee of Five,” the men responsible for writing the document that proclaimed the thirteen colonies sovereign states: John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. As visitors approach the diorama, LED lights showcase delicately made figures, molded from wax and reinforced by wire. The figures are decorated with fine details, such as wigs created from individual goat hairs, lace and ruffles from intricately cut paper, and small imitation pearls for the sitters’ eyes.