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Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

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Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.), Oil on canvas, American

Washington Crossing the Delaware

Artist: Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.)

Date: 1851

Culture: American

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 149 x 255 in. (378.5 x 647.7 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gift of John Stewart Kennedy, 1897

Accession Number: 97.34

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 760

Leutze's depiction of Washington's attack on the Hessians at Trenton on December 25, 1776, was a great success in America and in Germany. Leutze began his first version of this subject in 1849. It was damaged in his studio by fire in 1850 and, although restored and acquired by the Bremen Kunsthalle, was again destroyed in a bombing raid in 1942. In 1850, Leutze began this version of the subject, which was placed on exhibition in New York during October of 1851. At this showing Marshall O. Roberts bought the canvas for the then-enormous sum of $10,000. In 1853, M. Knoedler published an engraving of it. Many studies for the painting exist, as do copies by other artists.

Audio

#4340. Washington Crossing the Delaware

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Signature: [at lower right]: E. Leutze / Dusseldorf 1851

With Goupil, Vibert and Company, Paris and New York, 1851–52; Marshall O. Roberts, New York, 1852–died 1880; his estate, 1880–97; sale, Ortgies and Company, Fifth Avenue Art Galleries, New York, January 20, 1897, no. 172; John S. Kennedy, New York, 1897

Timelines
The United States and Canada, 1800-1900 A.D.

Washington Crossing the Delaware: Restoring an American Masterpiece
[adapted from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 69, no. 2 (Fall, 2011)]
A Walk Through The American Wing
One Met. Many Worlds.
Nineteenth-Century America: Paintings and Sculpture
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 9, The United States of America
The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Spanish)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Russian)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Portuguese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Korean)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Japanese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Italian)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (German)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (French)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Chinese)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Arabic)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 26, no. 7 (March, 1968)
Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Masterpieces of American Painting in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825–1861
The American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The American Wing: A Guide
American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1816 and 1845

Department

The American Wing (17,874)

Artist / Maker / Culture

Emanuel Leutze (11)

Object Type / Material

Paintings (13,350)

Geographic Location

North and Central America (90,641)

United States (86,392)

Date / Era

A.D. 1800–1900 (110,754)

Sketch for a Life Saving Medal (from McGuire Scrapbook)

Sketch for a Life Saving Medal (from McGuire Scrapbook)

Artist: Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.) Medium: Pen, ink, and graphite on thin off-white laid letterpress paper Accession: 26.216.35 On view in: Not on view

The Soldier's Farewell (from McGuire Scrapbook)

The Soldier's Farewell (from McGuire Scrapbook)

Artist: Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.) Date: 1859 Medium: Ink and graphite on thin off-white laid letterpress paper Accession: 26.216.32 On view in: Not on view

Girl with Rabbit (from McGuire Scrapbook)

Girl with Rabbit (from McGuire Scrapbook)

Artist: Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.) Medium: Graphite on off-white Bristol board Accession: 26.216.68 recto On view in: Not on view

Worthington Whittredge

Worthington Whittredge

Artist: Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.) Date: 1856 Medium: Oil on canvas Accession: 03.16 On view in: Not on view

Sketches: Cows; Two Female Portraits, One Crossed Out (from McGuire Scrapbook)

Sketches: Cows; Two Female Portraits, One Crossed Out (from McGuire Scrapbook)

Artist: Emanuel Leutze (American, Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816–1868 Washington, D.C.) Medium: Graphite, partially effaced with iron-gall ink, on off-white Bristol board Accession: 26.216.68 verso On view in: Not on view