Painting: Washington Crossing the Delaware

Artist: Emanuel Leutze (1816-1868)

Year Painted: 1851

Medium: oil on canvas

Background Information on the artist:

Emanuel Leutze is a German-born American Romantic painter. He immigrated to the United States as a child. His parents settled in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and then in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The had moved here to escape political persecution, and live freely. Leutze’s early education was good, although not especially in the direction of art. The first development of his artistic talent occurred while he was tending to the sickbed of his father. He would draw to occupy the long hours of sitting bedside. His father died in 1831.

At age 14, he started painting and selling small portraits for $5 apiece. Through such simple work, he was able to support himself and help his family after the death of his father. In 1834, he received his first instruction in art in classes from John Rubens Smith, a portrait painter in Philadelphia. He soon felt he had learned enough and devised a plan to paint portraits of eminent American statesmen in Washington DC.

He put his plan in action, and actually became a success. After several years of this, he decided to return to Germany and study at the Academy in Düsseldorf. He remained in Germany for almost 20 years and was primarily occupied with painting a series of canvases based on U.S. history. Sentimental and anecdotal in content, they are painstakingly executed in the highly finished style of the Düsseldorf school, which is characterized by firm drawing, careful rendering of detail, and filled-in color.

In 1859, Leutze returned to the United States and opened a studio in New York City. He divided his time between New York City and Washington, D.C. He painted for members of DC’s elite. He was commissioned by the U.S. Congress to decorate a stairway in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, for which he painted a large composition, Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, which is also commonly known as Westward Ho!

Late in life, he became a member of the National Academy of Design. He was also a member of the Union League Club of New York, which has a number of his paintings. He died in Washington, D.C at age 53, strangely enough of heatstroke. Leutze's portraits are known for both their artistic quality and their patriotic emotionalism. Washington Crossing the Delaware firmly ranks at the top among American national iconography.

ABOUT THE PAINTING:

Washington Crossing the Delaware is an 1851 oil-on-canvas painting that now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. There are many copies, one of which is in the West Wing reception area of the White House. Leutze's depiction of Washington's attack on the Hessians (German soldiers who helped the British fight the Americans) at Trenton on December 25, 1776, was a great success in America. A lot of people forget when looking at this scene that it is actually a painting, that it was made by an artist for money and for fame, and at a time when Washington's own legacy was newly enhanced. The scene that's shown is obvious—it's Washington crossing the Delaware in a boat with a great number of his troops. The actual number was 2,500—2,500 men crossed the Delaware with Washington as their leading commander on Christmas night during a Nor’easter on December 25, 1776. It was one of the most violent storms that hit the Northeast coast. The troops at this point were absolutely demoralized and debilitated by winter. You can only imagine how cold it was on that night. And it was sort of a last gasp in Washington's command, to revitalize the creation of the United States, the war that was about to be lost after a series of humiliating and tremendous defeats by the British over the Americans. This crossing of the Delaware was an absolute act of desperation. They crossed during the night—a surprise attack—so that they could reach the Hessians in their village camping on the day after Christmas. The attack was a huge success, thus this strategic crossing of the Delaware saved the Revolution and in effect quashed the Brits.

The way that Leutze depicts Washington is key to the hierarchy. He stands in the boat, which a lot of people think is sort of awkward but might have been true. These were flat-bottom boats and some of the men, in order to fit in the boats, did have to stand. Washington led a single battalion of officers across the Delaware with horses—you can see in the background of the painting, in separate boats. They had to be a different kind of carrier to go across the water.

Another interesting fact as you look at the painting is to think of the equipment, the clothing supply that George Washington's sort of rag-tag militia would have had as provisions that fall and winter. Each man was given two linen shirts, two overalls, a leather or woolen waistcoat—that's a vest with sleeves—breeches, one hat, two pairs of socks, and two pairs of shoes. By winter, most of the shoes had been destroyed. Some of the men in these boats had no shoes at all, making this very, very cold, strategic enterprise all the more amazing. The episode went down in history immediately as pivotal to George Washington's command of the troops, his abilities as a leader, and his abilities to rouse up the troops at a time when most of them were waiting for their commissions to expire so they could go home. And after all, it was Christmas, which is something that is hard to forget, and they're doing this at a time when all would have much rather been home.

And these were volunteer militia—important to remember that these were not enlisted men as we know of today. These were volunteers that chose to fight for their country, and they had no idea what they were getting into at the time.

Leutze recalls this battle in the 1850s, about 75 years after the fact. The painting you are looking at was painted in 1851 in Düsseldorf, Germany. Leutze used fellow artists and friends to pose for Washington and the men in the boat. You may see a tinge of sort of German heritage in some of the faces on the men. Leutze's object was not only to honor the memory of Washington, but to make money, gain fame, and to make a presence of himself in America.

He sent this picture to New York in 1851, and its arrival was anticipated in the local papers, in various journals, so that by the time it came, there was great fanfare. It was probably unrolled—as a picture this big would have been very difficult to ship from Germany to New York—and it did gather lots and lots of attention in New York in February of 1851, and it was given to the Metropolitan Museum in 1897.

As amazing as it is, there are a few inaccuracies: The flag that he used was not adopted until many years later. This is not the American flag that was used in 1776. The boats are slightly incorrect. It may or may not have been the actual formation of ice that had formed. And some of the artillery, the bringing of the artillery across, is misinformation. But by and large, Leutze got it right. Leutze got the scene right. And there are recent books on this subject, which show just how accurate he was in the portrayal.

Washington Crossing the Delaware represents a number of things: the great moment in American history that we are happy to commemorate; the fervor for Washington at mid-century; but more importantly, and a piece that lots of people might tend to miss, it's an exquisite painting, an extraordinary example of mid-nineteenth-century academic painting, by an artist who grew up in America, sought training in Germany, and sent back the very best he could to represent American art at its highest levels.

QUESTIONS TO ASK:

• Where is the focal point of the piece? Where does the artist want us to look? Washington and the standing men with the flag. The light colors also surround those men, making them stand out even more.

Also note that the point of view is as if we are on a different boat looking over at George Washington. Leutze invites us to be part of the action.

• Would you have liked to have been a soldier in the boats? Why or why not?

• The picture is definitely painted by an artist to make Washington look good. How can we tell?

• What if the artist didn’t like Washington. How could that change the composition of the painting. What might possibly look different?

• Close your eyes, and imagine you are there in the boats. What sort of sounds would you hear? Is this a “quiet or loud” painting?

• What colors does he use? Why would he pick those colors? (notice that everyone seems to be wearing red, white & blue.)

• Does the painting look like nighttime or morning? How can you tell? (Although the actual event took place at night, Leutze depicted daybreak)