The Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Matilda Elizabeth Schmahl's engraving presents the fifty-six signers of the Declaration arranged in a radial composition around a central medallion. Each signer appears as a small portrait vignette, identified by name, radiating outward like spokes. The design is framed by an ornamental wreath of laurel and olive branches, symbols of victory and peace. Rather than narrative sequence, Schmahl employs the visual language of heraldry and commemoration—a formal genealogy rendered through reproductive printmaking. The work demonstrates how nineteenth-century graphic design adapted classical compositional methods to honor historical subjects, predating the sequential panel structures that would define comics but sharing their goal of presenting multiple figures and stories within a unified visual field.