Washington Crossing the Delaware by Thomas Kelly, based on original by Emanuel Leutze

Washington, George · ca 1870

Colored print of George Washington standing, dramaticaly poised on the very edge of the bow of a wooden row boat. The boat is depicted in the foreground, and contains American troops using oars to navigate through boulders of ice in the Delaware River. It captures the moment in time when Washington is leading his troops to cross frigid waters for a suprise attack on British and Hessian troops at Trenton, New Jersey on Christmas 1776. In the center of the boat is a soldier carrying a large American flag. The print by Kelly is based on the 1850 Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze painting of "Washington Crossing the Delaware." Leutze's original painting was created in Germany and designed to cause a stir about the struggles following the European revolutions of 1848. Leutze was also an abolitionist and deliberately includes an African American soldier in his composition on the ice behind Washington's boat, and there are numerous boats transporting troops in the background. Kelly's print does not include the black soldier, and blurs the couple of boats in the background that are transporting horses.