Post by Al Bagocius

Christmas night 1776, George Washington and his men crossed the Delaware River in pursuit of a surprise attack on the 1,400 Hessian troops stationed near Trenton; a much needed boost in the moral of the American Patriotic fervor was hoped to be ensued. The painting we all recall lives on as a testament to what makes America great! Painted in 1851 by German artist Emanuel Leutze, Washington Crossing the Delaware became a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic. Painted in Dusseldorf Germany, Washington Crossing the Delaware shows a bold General Washington navigating through the frozen river with his compatriots braving the elements on their way to victory at Trenton. While the painting was in Germany, Leutze hoped that this brave episode in pursuit of American independence and republican rule would stir his fellow countrymen to more liberal reforms. In the fall of 1851, the painting was shipped to the United States where it wowed audiences in New York City and the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington DC. The New York Evening Mirror boldly called it “the grandest, most majestic, and most effective painting ever exhibited in America.” The painting stirred the patriotic emotions of countless Americans who have seen the it which now is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.