Emanuel Leutze was a German American who developed his artistic talent at the age of 14 when his father died. He sold paintings to support himself, but then in 1840, his talent was discovered and he attended Kunstakademie Düsseldorf to study art.
While in Europe Leutze became a supporter of the Revolutions of 1848 and decided to craft a painting that would inspire his German countrymen. His idea was to use the American Revolution as an example, and he painted the scene of Washington and his troops crossing the Delaware River on December 25-26, 1776 in a surprise attack on the Hessian troops in Trenton.
The original painting was completed in 1850 but a fire in his studio damaged it. Leutze painted a second, full-size copy and sent it to America where it changed ownership several times before being donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The first version was restored but during World War II it was destroyed in a bombing raid by the British Royal Air force. The running joke is that this was England's last retaliation for the the American Revolution.
A descendent of Leutze has argued that most of the historical inaccuracies were due to Leutze's effort to inspire the Germans: the boat is too small but it symbolizes the struggle by the Americans; Washington would not have been able to stand up, but his defiant stance symbolizes the hope of the Americans; and Leutze painted the crossing in the daytime when it took place at night, but a night painting would be difficult to achieve and ineffective in its aims. The major inaccuracy, which was accidental, was that Leutze painted the wrong flag, the Stars and Stripes, which did not exist at the time of Washington's crossing.
Grand Union Flag, the correct flag of the time of the crossing.
Thanks to Bill and Will Howard for their information on the painting. Both are descendents of Leutze.
No comments:
Post a Comment