Washington Crossing the Delaware
1851 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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About this work
- Artist
- Emanuel Leutze (1816–1868)
- Year
- 1851
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 378.5 × 647.7 cm
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Movement
- American
George Washington stands in the bow of a rowing boat as his men force it through the ice of the Delaware on the night of 25 December 1776, on the way to the surprise attack at Trenton that saved the American Revolution; James Monroe holds the flag behind him and the boats of the army stretch back across the river. Leutze, a German-American, painted it in Düsseldorf in 1850 and 1851 as a lesson for European liberals, using the Rhine as his model and American art students as his crew. The first version was damaged by fire and destroyed in Bremen in 1942; this second, six and a half metres wide, was shown in New York in 1851, bought by Marshall Roberts and given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1897. The flag, the ice and the daylight are all anachronisms, and it is the most famous painting of American history anyway.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A general standing in a crowded rowing boat forcing through river ice beneath a stars-and-stripes, in blue, white and amber dawn, a very wide painting for a study, office or hallway at 36×24 in black. Navy, stone or warm grey walls suit it; pair it with Napoleon Crossing the Alps.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- American painting
- Era
- 19th century (1851)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, home office, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 36×24. Prints at 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard; 36×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — natural wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Washington Crossing the Delaware in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Washington Crossing the Delaware painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.





















