Washington Crossing the Delaware

George Washington stands in the center of a small boat, his soldiers using oars to deflect floating chunks of ice, in this famous depiction of the crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776. The artist, Emanuel Leutze, was born in Germany but raised in Fredericksburg. Like most historical painters, Leutze’s goal in his work was to imagine an inspiring moment rather than capture the event with perfect accuracy. He based his depiction of Washington on Jean-Antoine Houdon’s late-eighteenth-century bust of Washington, and chose to include General Nathaniel Greene, depicted in the foreground in a blue coat and tri-corner hat, as well as Colonel James Monroe clutching the American flag. He had colleagues stand in for the other figures—thanking them with beer or champagne for their trouble. A Black soldier is shown behind Washington with an oar. A fire in the apartments under Leutze's studio damaged his first large-scale version of the painting, but he was able to complete this replica within six months. The massive painting was an immediate success when it debuted in New York on October 29, 1851. It became one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable depictions of the American Revolution.