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Washington Crossing the Delaware
Emanuel Leutze, 1851
Emanuel Leutze was born in Germany, grew up in the United States and painted this canvas in Düsseldorf in 1851. It shows George Washington and his soldiers crossing the icy Delaware River on the night of 25 to 26 December 1776, before the Battle of Trenton. At 149 by 255 inches, about 3.8 by 6.5 metres, it is nearly as wide as a tennis court is long, and it was made to impress.
Look at how the light is arranged. The sky is pale at the horizon, and the glow falls on Washington, who stands in the bow with his gaze fixed ahead. The oarsmen strain, ice floes press against the boat and a soldier at the front pushes one away with an oar. Leutze packed in many figures to suggest a whole army and a mixed one, with different clothing and different faces.
The painting is more heroic than accurate. For example, the flag in the boat is the Stars and Stripes, which was not adopted until 1777, and the boat itself is not the type historians think was used. Leutze was making a stirring picture of a moment, not a record. The Met's version is a second painting of the subject, as the first was damaged in a fire in his studio.
From the museum record
| Artist | Emanuel Leutze |
|---|---|
| Date | 1851 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Size | 149 x 255 in. (378.5 x 647.7 cm) |
| Museum | The Metropolitan Museum of Art |
| Credit line | Gift of John Stewart Kennedy, 1897 |
| Accession number | 97.34 |
| Licence | Open Access (CC0) |
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection record. Facts such as dates, sizes and credit lines come from that record. The write-up above was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the museum record and standard references. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
