The Resignation of General Washington, December 23, 1783 Artist: John Trumbull (American, 1756–1843)

1824–28

American Paintings and Sculpture

On view, 2nd floor, American Art before 1900


Here Trumbull memorializes the moment when General George Washington arose and addressed Congress at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War:



Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take leave of all the employments of public life.



The cloak on the chair behind Washington suggests a king’s robes draped on a throne, a royal emblem on which he has turned his back. Trumbull called Washington’s voluntary return to the simple life of a farmer "one of the highest moral lessons ever given to the world":


The Caesars—the Cromwells—the Napoleons—yielded to the charm of earthly ambition, and betrayed their country; but Washington aspired to loftier . . . glory . . . which virtue alone can give, and which no power, no effort, no time, can ever take away or diminish.

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

20 × 30 × 1 in. (50.8 × 76.2 × 2.5 cm)

Credit Line

Trumbull Collection

Accession Number

1832.8

Geography

Depicted Annapolis, Maryland, United States

Culture

American

Period

19th century

Classification

Paintings

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Trumbull Collection, to 1832; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Arthur S. Lefkowitz, Eyewitness Images from the American Revolution (Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 2017), 232, ill
  • Helen A. Cooper et al., Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2008), 26, 66, 67–69, 80, 94–95, 101, 102, 103, 104, 106, no. 38, ill
  • David Preston, James Monroe, exh. cat. (Fredericksburg, Va.: University of Mary Washington, 2008), 22, ill
  • David Humphreys, Life of General Washington, paperback (Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 2006), ii, ill
  • Helen A. Cooper et al., John Trumbull: The Hand and Spirit of a Painter (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1982), 88, pl. 31
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

histories (visual works)

Subject

Members of Congress girls robes

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