On December 19, 1831, John Trumbull, history painter and portraitist, signed an indenture to sell twenty-eight of his paintings and sixty miniature portraits to Yale University. In return, Trumbull, then seventy-five years old, received an annuity of $1000 payable for the remainder of his life. As part of this agreement, Yale also committed to constructing a fireproof building to house Trumbull’s paintings on campus, establishing Yale’s first art gallery. Trumbull himself designed the Picture Gallery at Yale, which opened to the public on October 25, 1832. Neoclassical in style, the interior of the building had two large skylit rooms on the upper floor for the display of paintings. The north gallery was devoted to the exhibition of Trumbull’s paintings, while the south gallery displayed portraits by other artists including Sir Godfrey Kneller, John Smibert, Samuel F. B. Morse, and Ralph Earl. Yale’s collection quickly outgrew the Trumbull Gallery and in 1867 moved to Street Hall. The Trumbull Gallery then served as office for the University president and treasurer until it was demolished in 1901.