Who painted Washington Crossing the Delaware, the famous 1851 painting of a 1776 event?

Emanuel Leutze painted Washington Crossing the Delaware, the famous 1851 painting of a 1776 event.

Leutze was a German American artist who created the monumental history painting in Düsseldorf. It dramatizes General George Washington leading troops across the Delaware River on the night of December 25–26, 1776, before the surprise attack at Trenton, New Jersey.

The painting is not a literal record of every detail. Its crowded boat, upright figures, and varied passengers were arranged for symbolic effect, and the vessel shown is not historically accurate for the dangerous river crossing. Leutze intended the image to connect the American Revolution with contemporary European struggles for political freedom.

The original work was damaged during World War II and is now associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A second version, painted by Leutze after the first was damaged, is displayed at the White House.