Jefferson in His Own Time: A Biographical Chronicle of His Life, Drawn from Recollections, Interviews, and Memoirs by Family, Friends, and Associates

Of Art and Religion (1841)

[123] kkk [Of Art and Religion] (1841) John Trumbull Like so many other Revolutionary American painters, John Trumbull (1756– 1843) went to England to hone his craft. He studied with Benjamin West in London during the early 1780s but came into his own by the middle of the decade. In 1785, Trumbull embarked on a series of paintings depicting important people and events from the Revolutionary War, including The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill and The Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec. When Thomas Jefferson came to London in 1786, Trumbull asked him whether he should continue the series. Jefferson encouraged Trumbull to persevere, invited him to Paris, and even offered him a place to stay. Trumbull took Jefferson up on his offer, arriving in Paris later that year and becoming a member of Jefferson’s household. In a 14 August 1786 letter, Jefferson announced his arrival to Francis Hopkinson: “Our countryman Trumbull is here, a young painter of the most promising talents. He brought with him his Battle of Bunker’s hill and Death of Montgomery to have them engraved here, and we may add, to have them sold; for like Dr. Ramsay’s history [David Ramsay’s History of the Revolution in South Carolina ], they are too true to suit the English palate” (Papers, 10: 250). Once Jefferson introduced Trumbull to his contacts in Paris, Trumbull immersed himself in the Parisian art world. The two paintings he brought quickly earned him considerable respect. As Jefferson told Ezra Stiles in a 1 September 1786 letter, Trumbull’s paintings “are the admiration of the Connoisseurs . His natural talents of this art seem almost unparalleled” (Papers, 10: 317). Trumbull made many friends among the leading artists in Paris and, in turn, introduced Jefferson to them. Jacques-Louis David was one of these friends; Maria Cosway was another. Jefferson and Trumbull became reacquainted in 1793 after both had returned to the United States, but, as Trumbull relates, an unfortunate dinner conversation divided the two. jefferson in his own time [124] in the summer of 1785, political duties had called Mr. Jefferson, then minister of the United States in Paris, to London, and there I became acquainted with him. He had a taste for the fine arts, and highly approved my intention of preparing myself for the accomplishment of a national work. He encouraged me to persevere in this pursuit, and kindly invited me to come to Paris, to see and study the fine works there, and to make his house my home, during my stay. I now availed myself of this invitation, and went to his house, at the Grille de Chaillot, where I was most kindly received by him. My two paintings, the first fruits of my national enterprise, met his warm approbation, and during my visit, I began the composition of the Declaration of Independence , with the assistance of his information and advice. [. . .] Sunday, August 5th.—Went with Mr. Jefferson and others to see the ceremony of crowning the rosière of Sarennes, a village near St. Cloud, four miles from Chaillot. Every year, the most amiable, industrious and virtuous poor girl of the parish is elected, who is received by all the village, and a crowd of strangers, in the church with great solemnity; the service is performed , a sermon preached, and the ceremony of crowning with roses is performed, with the benediction of a bishop. The rosière of the year, with the preceding candidates, is arranged on the right of the bishop—their parents and friends with them; the crown of flowers is placed by a little girl, daughter of the seigneur of the parish, with the benedicite of the bishop, and accompanied by music; the rosière is then conducted home, attended by the clergy, music and company, when she receives three hundred livres—the annual legacy of a clergyman, whose institution this is. Returned to Paris on foot, over the Pont de Neuilly, a very beautiful stone bridge over the Seine; the floor of this bridge is horizontal; it consists of seven arches, which have a beautiful degree of lightness; these arches, which in fact and intrinsically are hemispherical, are sloped from one fourth of the piers on each side to the outer face, so that the arch externally appears to be a very flat ellipse, but within and under the centre of the bridge, they are hemispheres. [. . .] [Monday, 13 August] Dined, in company with Mr. Jefferson...