THE ART OF TRUMBULL John Trumbull’s standing, like Peale’s, is attained largely on his renderings of Washington. He had much opportunity for observing the general, and this contributed much to the accuracy of his compositions, but little to the fineness of his art. He is fortunate in having many of his works gathered together in the Yale School of Fine Arts; for in the aggregation they are impressive, as being a dignified and graphic presentment of the important events of the Revolutionary period. These canvases are not large. Indeed, much of his work was in the nature of miniatures in oil. He made many careful studies from life of those persons he introduced into his historical compositions. His picture of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was painted in 1791, when most of the signers were yet living, and from all of these he obtained sittings. Claim has been made that he was the greatest of the early painters in America. He was, in the sense of having made the truest record. But in the sense of being the best according to our latterday conception of art, as being something other than a labored and literal rendering of a fact, he was inferior to both Copley and Stuart. [Illustration: C. W. PEALE Portrait by the painter, in the Pennsylvania Academy.] GILBERT STUART, MASTER IN PORTRAITURE In Gilbert Stuart we had the most valuable art worker. His portraits, while good records, had also beauty and charm. His color was fresh and brilliant. He gave his subjects poise and personality. His pictures were vital. He had not the faculty for design and composition to the extent of the great Englishmen, Reynolds and Gainsborough; but he had a technic that was not inferior. Fortunate has been the nation that has known its heroic founders through the medium of Stuart’s picturing. Indeed, much of our modern regard for those heroes has been engendered by these dignified yet very human presentments. Of Philadelphia families he was the true historian, and of Boston society he was the splendid chronicler that outshone its own Copley. In England, after studying with West, he ranked high for several years in that, the greatest period of English art. He returned to America in 1792, and after spending two years in New York went to Philadelphia to paint Washington.