Thomas Jefferson

John Trumbull

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Connecticut-born, English-trained Trumbull became the leading chronicler of the United States’ newly won independence in the years after the American Revolution. Beginning in 1789, he spent five years traveling up and down the Eastern Seaboard taking "heads" from life, mainly of statesmen and military officers—such as Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Mifflin, displayed here—in addition to Giuseppe Ceracchi, a noted Italian sculptor visiting Philadelphia in search of public commissions. As preparatory studies for Trumbull’s many history paintings, these gem-like miniatures are distinguished by their sensitive characterization and fluid handling.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art