Explore the Legacy and interpretations of this artwork, Declaration of Independence (painting).
In 2017, the company Ancestry.com restaged the painting with the 29 living descendants of the men depicted in Trumbull's painting as part of an advertising campaign called “Declaration Descendants". The campaign included two short films and ran on digital and social media platforms.  Shannon Lanier, a descendant of Thomas Jefferson, said: “When you see the new picture, the new image, it’s a picture of diverse people. Black, white, Hispanic, Native American—a little bit of everything—Asian, and that’s more of a representation of this country.”In the 2008 HBO miniseries John Adams, in one of the final scenes of the series, the painter John Trumbull is showing his massive mural to an elderly John Adams for his approval. While staring at the painting Adams mentions, "They're all dead ... except me and Jefferson." He then expresses to Trumbull his disapproval of the work. This leads to a brief argument between the men about the difference between artistic license and historical accuracy. The scene itself is entirely fictional, but serves as a warning towards the fictionalization of the past itself with Adams stating "It is very bad history".
John Trumbull John Adams Ancestry.com Thomas Jefferson