Washington Crossing the Delaware
1851 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
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This print
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 full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. 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. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or dark wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
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.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
