Johannes Adam Simon Oertel Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, N.Y.C. ca. 1859

Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, N.Y.C. Working decades after the event, the artist depicts an imagined, romanticized image of the scene. The painting shows the Sons of Liberty destroying the statue after the Declaration was read by George Washington to citizens and his troops in New York City on July 9, 1776. Despite the presence of Native Americans, women and children, eyewitness accounts place only soldiers, sailors and more of the rougher sorts of civilians at the event. Additionally, historical records indicate the statue depicted King George III of England in ancient Roman garb based on the Renaissance sculpture of a Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, and not the contemporary 18th clothing depicted in this painting.