The Constitution

The National Archives Building’s architect, John Russell Pope, designated space for two large murals in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom. These oil-on-canvas paintings were painted by artist Barry Faulkner in 1935–36. Faulkner created allegorical (symbolic or metaphorical) scenes depicting the writing and adoption of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. These massive murals, each about the size of a city bus (14 x 37.5 feet or 4.27 x 11.43 metres), add life and color to the space.

The mural depicts, from left to right, 1-19, and left to right at the back starting to the left of the pillar, on the steps 20 - 25:
1. Edmund Randolph, Virginia (head visible behind Nathaniel Gorham)
2. Nathaniel Gorham, Massachusetts
3. John Dickinson, Delaware
4. John Rutledge, South Carolina (in yellow holding a book)
5. James Wilson, Pennsylvania
6. Oliver Ellsworth, Connecticut
7. Charles Pinckney, South Carolina
8. James Madison, Virginia
9. Elbridge Gerry, Massachusetts (behind James Madison and William Samuel Johnson)
10. William Samuel Johnson, Connecticut
11. George Mason, Virginia (behind William Samuel Johnson and George Washington)
12. George Washington, Virginia
13. Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania (behind George Washington and Rufus King)
14. Rufus King, Massachusetts
15. William Paterson, New Jersey
16. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, South Carolina
17. Gouverneur Morris, Pennsylvania
18. Alexander Hamilton, New York (back to the painter with sword in hand, looking left)
19. George Read, Delaware
Back Row:
20. William R. Davie, North Carolina (left of the pillar just behind John Langdon)
21. John Langdon, New Hampshire
22. Luther Martin, Maryland (leaning on the right of the pillar)
23. Roger Sherman, Connecticut (in blue behind Gunning Bedford Jr)
24. Gunning Bedford, Jr., Delaware
25. Abraham Baldwin, Georgia (in blue trench coat)

Photo of the mural of the Constitution, photo taken by Jeff Reed.