Melanie Thacker Nonmacher

Assistant Curator & Community Outreach Director Kaplan Museum of Judaica | Art Historian| Museum Educator| Bayou Bend Docent Program | Museum of Fine Arts

53 articles published

COL. JOHN TRUMBULL- GEORGE WASHINGTON PRINT

TrumbullFebruary 24, 202680Views 0Likes 0Comments

Trumbull was not only painting religious scenes with West, however. Trumbull always had an inflated sense of self-importance and during this time in England, he also completed the painting of a full-length portrait of George Washington overlooking a bluff. Then, when the painting was completed, contracted to make prints to sell to fund relief for…

COL. JOHN TRUMBULL- ENGLAND 1780’s

TrumbullFebruary 24, 2026101Views 0Likes 0Comments

After the Revolutionary War period in Col. John Trumbull’s life, another exciting chapter began. Trumbull moved to England, even as the Revolutionary War continued, and he began studying under Benjamin West. West was an American painter who had begun life as a portrait painter but had progressed in talent and respect enough to now be…

COL. JOHN TRUMBULL’S FIRST HISTORICAL PAINTING

TrumbullFebruary 24, 202656Views 0Likes 0Comments

The first historical painting that Trumbull tried his hand at was “The Death of Paulus Aemilius at the Battle of Cannae.” Painted in 1773, Trumbull borrowed figures from several engravings and then pieced together this scene. This painting’s central figure is Roman Consul Paulus Aemilius, who was wounded and given the chance to escape on…

COL. JOHN TRUMBULL- AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY ARTIST 1776

TrumbullFebruary 24, 202682Views 0Likes 0Comments

Trumbull’s father, who had used his weight to get Trumbull late admission to Harvard once again used his influence on behalf of his youngest son when the Revolutionary War began. The elder Trumbull made sure that he was given duties in the Continental Army where he would generally not be in direct combat. Trumbull was…

COL. JOHN TRUMBULL- THE FIRST AMERICAN COLLEGE-EDUCATED ARTIST 1773

TrumbullFebruary 18, 202662Views 0Likes 0Comments

Trumbull, as a youth, was a good student. His father was determined that his son made a dependable living and not as an artist, as Trumbull was hoping. Trumbull, at this time, was well into his teens and was adamant that he wanted to be an artist. His father wanted no part of that. The…

ORIGINS OF AN EARLY AMERICAN PAINTER 1756

Sarah Hope Harvey Trumbull, TrumbullFebruary 18, 202666Views 1Like 0Comments

Early American artists often traveled from city to city to study and to paint the portraits of notable members of society and the wealthy elite. Many times, these artists also had higher aspirations of becoming history painters, but always they had to earn a living. Portrait commissions were the most reliable way for an artist…

COL. JOHN TRUMBULL & HIS PORTRAITURE OF SARAH HOPE HARVEY TRUMBULL

Sarah Hope Harvey Trumbull, TrumbullFebruary 17, 2026130Views 0Likes 0Comments

Through his portraits of Sarah Hope Harvey Trumbull, Col. John Trumbull advanced beyond his monumental history paintings to explore intimacy and early American identity that revealed how their personal relationship shaped a softer, more private dimension of Trumbull and early American portraiture. Though often overshadowed by her husband’s fame as the “Painter of the American…

COL. JOHN TRUMBULL & SARAH HOPE HARVEY TRUMBULL- DEATH & LEGACY

Sarah Hope Harvey Trumbull, TrumbullFebruary 17, 202662Views 0Likes 0Comments

There is no record of what Harvey might have died from. A little over a year before her death, she and Trumbull were visiting his relatives when his nephew records that he had never seen Harvey look so bad. Harvey's notice of death in The Evening Post newspaper based in New York reads on Monday,…

SARAH TRUMBULL ON HER DEATHBED 1824

Sarah Hope Harvey Trumbull, TrumbullFebruary 16, 202676Views 0Likes 0Comments

This painting is unlike the other portraits that Trumbull painted of his wife. This painting feels more intimate, perhaps because it is not posed but it is a moment. Harvey does not look at the viewer but looks directly above in a plaintive way. Is she looking toward heaven or a loved one? Is she…

PORTRAIT OF SARAH HOPE HARVEY 1820-1823

Sarah Hope Harvey Trumbull, TrumbullOctober 20, 202594Views 0Likes 0Comments

Now near her fifties and shortly before her death, Harvey sits alone in the portrait. Only hints of color and light surround her, although there is an implied wall behind her. The background of the portrait is dark with warm undertones that match her loosely curled hair. Much of her hair is covered under…

SARAH HOPE HARVEY TRUMBULL NUDES- EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Sarah Hope Harvey Trumbull, TrumbullAugust 29, 2025184Views 0Likes 0Comments

In the collection given to Yale University for the Trumbull Museum, there is a set of nude sketches in a folder. These are important by themselves because they make Trumbull the first known American practitioner of an academic life study. [1] Three of these nude sketches appear to show Mrs. Trumbull reclined in poses for…

SARAH TRUMBULL- THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY 1811

Religious, Sarah Hope Harvey Trumbull, TrumbullAugust 15, 2025146Views 0Likes 0Comments

Living in England, trying to sustain them financially painting portraits of well-to-do society members, Trumbull also tried his hand at many religious and some political scenes. One of the best examples is “The Woman Taken in Adultery,” painted in 1811. This is a large painting measuring almost 8 feet tall and five feet across. Trumbull…