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Washington Crossing the Delaware is an 1851 oil-on-canvas painting by German American artist...

Washington Crossing the Delaware is an 1851 oil-on-canvas painting by German American artist Emanuel Leutze. It is in commemoration of Washington's crossing of the Delaware on December 25, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. It was the first move in a surprise attack against the Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey in the Battle of Trenton. As of 2004, it is part of the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There are many copies of the painting, one of which is in the West Wing reception area of the White House. German-born Emmanuel Leutze grew up in America, then returned to Germany as an adult, where he conceived of the idea for this painting during the Revolutions of 1848. Hoping to encourage Europe's liberal reformers through the example of the American Revolution, and using American tourists and art students as models and assistants, Leutze finished the first painting in 1850. Just after it was completed, the first version was damaged by fire in his studio, subsequently restored, and acquired by the Kunsthalle Bremen. In 1942, during World War II, it was destroyed in a bombing raid by the British Royal Air Force (which has led to a persistent joke