To James Madison from John Trumbull, 4 December 1827
From John Trumbull
Washington December 4th: 1827.
Sir
May I beg your acceptance of the enclosed “Description[”] of the Four paintings which I executed under your Auspices,1 & which are now finished, & permanently placed.
I thought well to accompany each subject with a Sketch of the History of the Event: & hope that what I have said, may meet your approbation.
There is also, in the introduction, an allusion to the favorable impression made by my small pictures, many years ago;2 I have inserted this on authority which I presume is well founded; but you must know whether it be correct, or not, and if you believe me to have been misinformed, I shall thank you to acquaint me, that the Error may be corrected hereafter. With the Sincerest wishes for the Health & Happiness of Mrs. Madison as well as of yourself I have the Honor to be Sir With great Respect Your most obedient Servant
Jno. Trumbull
RC (owned by Mrs. Robert I. Cummin, Villanova, Pa., 1964). Docketed by JM.
1. [John Trumbull], Description of the Four Pictures, from Subjects of the Revolution, Painted by Order of the Government of the United States, and Now Placed in the Rotunda of the Capitol (New York, 1827; 30844). For Trumbull’s commission from the U.S. government, see his letter to JM, 26 Dec. 1817, , 1:188–89, 159 n. 1.
2. “During this period [1794], his work attracted so much attention, that it was proposed to employ him to execute the entire series for the nation; and this proposal failed to be carried into effect, not through any opposition from any quarter to the propriety or fitness of the object, but because the nation then possessed no building proper to receive such decorations, and because doubts existed then, as since, in the minds of some gentlemen, whether Congress possessed the right of appropriating the public money to such purposes” (Trumbull, Description of the Four Pictures [ 30844], v).