Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze, 1851

Emanuel Gottlieb LeutzeAmerican, 1816–1868

Washington Crossing the Delaware

1851 · Painting

MasterpieceNo. 85of the world's hundred most famous paintings

Can I see it?

Yes, on view now

Where is “Washington Crossing the Delaware” now? The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery 760, New York. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York, United States

Room760

Closed· opens at 10:00 AM

On public display.

Checked: 12 days ago
In this state since: Sep 26, 2026
Source: The museum

On the map Museum page

About the painting

Washington Crossing the Delaware is the title of three 1851 oil-on-canvas paintings by the German-American artist Emanuel Leutze depicting General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River with the Continental Army on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. Washington's covert crossing of the Delaware River that night was the first of several moves, leading to a surprise attack and victory against Hessian forces at the Battle of Trenton in New Jersey on the morning of December 26.

Read on

The original was part of the collection at the Kunsthalle in Bremen, Germany, and was destroyed in a British bombing raid in 1942, during World War II. One of Leutze's other two versions is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The other was in the West Wing reception area of the White House in Washington, D.C., but in March 2015, was purchased and put on display at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum in Winona, Minnesota. In April 2022 Christie's announced that the smaller painting would be sold at auction the following month, for a pre-sale estimate of $15 million to $20 million. It sold for $45 million.

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Details

Accession number: 97.34

What it shows

Soldiers American Revolution George Washington Man Horse Flag Boat

In the catalog

Paintings Oil American painting Realism 19th century American

Sources

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access (CC0)

In the life of Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze

The whole life

1845–1859
A resource for Americans in Düsseldorf
For visiting Americans he is a real resource: he finds them places to live and work, provides introductions, and gives them emotional and even financial support. For many years he is president of the Düsseldorf Artists’ Association.
1850
Fire in the studio damages the first version
Just after its completion the first version is damaged by fire in his studio; it is restored and acquired by the Kunsthalle Bremen.
October 1851
Second version shown on Broadway
The second, larger replica of the first version, ordered in 1850 by the Parisian art trader Adolphe Goupil for his New York branch, goes on exhibition on Broadway; it is now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

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