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Washington Crossing the Delaware is an 1851 oil-on-canvas painting by Emanuel Leutze. It commemorates the December 25, 1776 crossing of the Delaware River by George Washington and his troops during the American Revolutionary War. In doing so, they surprised the Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey in the Battle of Trenton.
As of 2004, it is part of the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Washington Crossing the Delaware is an oil painting measuring 378.5 by 647.7 cm (149 by 255 inches). History
Leutze began the first version in 1849. In 1850, this version was damaged by fire in his studio, subsequently restored, and acquired by the Kunsthalle Bremen. In 1942, during the Second World War, it was destroyed in a bombing raid.
The second version, which Leutze began in 1850, was finally placed on exhibition in New York in October, 1851. It was originally bought by Marshall O. Roberts for $10,000 (at the time, an enormous sum). After changing ownership several times, it was finally obtained by John S. Kennedy, who donated it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It remains on exhibition there as of 2004.
Composition
The painting is notable for its artistic composition. Washington is emphasized by an unnaturally bright sky, while his face catches the upcoming sun. The colors consist of mostly dark tones, as is to be expected at dawn, but there are red highlights repeated throughout the painting. Foreshortening, perspective and the distant boats all lend depth to the painting and emphasize the boat carrying Washington.
Errors
The painting contains an error often discussed by historians: the flag being carried.
This flag is the original flag of the United States (the "Stars and Stripes") of which the design did not exist at the time of Washington's crossing. The flag's design was specified in the June 14, 1777 Flag Resolution of the Second Continental Congress, and flew for the first time on September 3, 1777—well after Washington's crossing in 1776. The historically accurate flag would have been the Grand Union flag, officially hoisted by Washington himself on January 2, 1776 at Cambridge, Massachusetts, as the standard of the Continental Army and the first national flag.
The painting contains minor inaccuracies as well, but these have artistic justifications. For example, the boat (of the wrong model) looks too small to carry all occupants and stay afloat, but this emphasizes the struggle of the rowing soldiers. There are phantom light sources besides the upcoming sun, as can be seen on the face of the front rower and shadows on the water, to add depth. Finally, Washington's stance, obviously intended to depict him in a heroic fashion, would have been very hard to maintain in the stormy conditions of the crossing.
Washington Crossing the Delaware is also the title of a 1936 sonnet by David Schulman. It refers to the scene in the painting, and is notable for being a 14-line rhyming sonnet of which every line is an anagram of the title.
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