Analysis Of George Washington's Crossing Of The Delaware By Emanuel Leutze

The eerie silence amongst the crew, the sound of ice crashing against the side of the wooden boat. The painfully cold air nipping at every inch of bare skin. Shaking, nervous hands awaiting battle. But in your moment of you look up, you are empowered at the sight of General George Washington, ready to lead an idea, an army, and a nation. No longer are your hands shaking from fear but now from anticipation to prove that your newly founded nation will preserve itself. That is the feeling one gets when they put themselves in the painting “George Washington's Crossing of the Delaware” by Emanuel Leutze. Finished it 1851 this painting depicts the famous scene when General George Washington of the American continental army, crosses the icy and frigid Delaware river Christmas night in 1776. General Washington planned

The first day of classes students learned that modernity was and still is being ultimately formed by Western countries and culture. More specifically Western European countries like England, France and Germany, as well as the United States in the western hemisphere. Western expansion is a large theme throughout the semester, with focus on colonies, nation-states, and imperialism, this photo symbolizes one of the pivotal downfalls of a colony, but yet at the same time glorifying western style progress. When we look at the orientation of the boat, we can find its significance in this theme of western progress. “Washington and his men crossed the Delaware in a west-east direction, Leutze’s pictorial representation, at least if one applies the conventions of mapping with the west being on the viewer’s left and the east on his or her right, suggests that the boat is heading west.”(2) this is very important because it symbolizes one of the