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U.S. painter, architect, and author. Born in Lebanon, Conn.,
son of Gov. Jonathan Trumbull (1710-1785), he served as an aide to G. Washington during the Amer. Revolution and later as secretary to J. Jay in London. In 1784 he studied painting in London with B. West, and with West's encouragement he began the celebrated series of historical paintings and engravings he would work on throughout his life. In 1817 he was commissioned by Congress to paint the four large pictures that decorate the Capitol rotunda (completed 1826); most of the figures in the often-reproduced Declaration of Independence were painted from life.
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