Washington Crossing the Delaware

Emanuel Leutze

1851 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

This epic painting honors a critical turning point in the American colonists’ war against Great Britain. It was a great success in Leutze’s native Germany—given the country’s own revolutionary fervor of the period—as well as in the United States, where it quickly became an iconic image, frequently recast by later artists. Evoking patriotic feelings in some viewers, conflict and struggle in others, this unavoidable highlight of the American Wing continues to spark debates about political ideas. It is exhibited here in a reproduction of its original trophy-style frame, based on a photograph by Mathew B. Brady. “Leutze wants to paint our better angels. He shows this democratic vision towards freedom—that it’s not just Washington alone.” Scott Manning Stevens (Akwesasne Mohawk), cultural historian

Artist

Emanuel Leutze

Date

1851

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of John Stewart Kennedy, 1897