Trumbull's Surrender of Lord Cornwallis

What it is

This is a 2011 photograph by the Architect of the Capitol of John Trumbull's oil painting, which is 12 by 18 feet and dated 1820. It was placed in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in 1826. The photograph shows a mounted officer in a dark blue coat and black hat at the center, with a young red-coated figure walking before him. Two long lines of uniformed soldiers flank the scene under a stormy sky, and a white flag and an American flag fly on either side.

Why it matters

The painting shows the surrender of the British army at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, which ended the last major campaign of the Revolutionary War. The painting shows the event rather than Cornwallis himself, so it reflects how the surrender was remembered in the United States in the 1820s.

Look closer

• Who is placed at the center of the scene, and what does the painter emphasize about them?
• Why might the surrender be shown under a stormy sky with flags on both sides?
• What does the painting leave out about the soldiers who are only shown as lines?