The Declaration of Independence on the back of the two-dollar bill and Alexander Hamilton’s face on the ten were both shaped by one artist, John Trumbull. This episode explores how the son of Connecticut’s governor, who lost the use of one eye in a childhood accident, mapped British fortifications in Boston, served as an aide to George Washington, and then quit the army over the date on his commission.

We follow his risky move to study art in London during the war, his seven months in prison after the execution of Major John Andre, and his five-year effort to paint the signers of the Declaration from life. We also cover his diplomatic work with John Jay, the annuity deal that sent his paintings to Yale, his clash with students at the American Academy of Fine Arts, and his four paintings in the Capitol Rotunda.

• How monocular vision may have influenced Trumbull’s detailed painting style
• Why a dispute over a commission date led him to leave the Continental Army
• How Thomas Jefferson helped plan the Declaration of Independence painting
• How Trumbull traded his collection to Yale for a lifetime annuity
• Why students walked out and founded the National Academy of Design