Browsing: Diary of John Adams, Volume 2

Unfinished copperplate engraving, done by Savage after an oil painting (ca. 1796–1817) now attributed beyond question to the same artist, although long accepted as a joint effort with Robert Edge Pine. The copperplate is in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society; the oil is in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Devoid of dramatic clichés and allegorical trappings, Savage's rendering is believed to present “as true a picture of the Assembly Room of Independence Hall as we are ever likely to find.” For a full discussion of the engraving and the painting, see James M. Mulcahy, “Congress Voting Independence: The Trumbull and Pine-Savage Paintings,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 80:74–91 (January 1956).