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= The Passage of the Delaware = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search The Passage of the Delaware is a large 1819 oil painting by Thomas Sully depicting George Washington and the troops of the American Revolutionary Army arriving on the banks of the Delaware River after a nighttime crossing on their way to the December 26, 1776 Battle of Trenton. It is exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The painting is 146.5″ (372.1 cm) high and 207″ (525.7 cm) wide.

The Passage of the Delaware was originally displayed in the Boston Museum. The museum closed in 1903, and the painting was gifted to the Museum of Fine Arts

Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton
George Washington and the Continental Army had been driven from Fort Lee, New Jersey across the Delaware River and into Pennsylvania by the British Army during the fall of 1776. Washington and his army set up camp in New Hope, Pennsylvania in hopes of preventing the British Army from reaching Philadelphia. The British, who had been following General Washington and his troops during their retreat from Fort Lee, set up camp across the Delaware River in Trenton, New Jersey. Morale in the Continental Army was low following the string of defeats and subsequent retreat in the Fall. Washington felt that the Continental Army was in “...very bad condition”. In hopes of reversing the misfortunes of the fall, raising morale of the troops, and gaining more support, General Washington decided to launch a surprise attack on the Hessian mercenaries camped in Trenton on the morning after Christmas.

The attack required the Continental Army to cross the icy Delaware River in the middle of the night with 2,400 men, horses and eighteen cannons. Each soldier took with them three days of rations, blankets and forty rounds of ammunition. Because of the lack of supplies of the Continental Army, some soldiers lacked proper shoes and had fallen victim to extreme frostbite and had resorted to wrapping their feet in bandages, leaving bloody footprints as they marched. Adding to the logistical challenges of the crossing was the additional challenge posed by a storm occurring during the night dumping snow and sleet on the crossing soldiers. Despite the challenges faced in the crossing, General Washington and the Continental Army took the Hessian garrison in Trenton by surprise and won a long awaited victory, improving his troops morale and gaining more support for their efforts against the British.

Thomas Sully
Thomas Sully was an English-born and American-Raised artist in the nineteenth century. As a young adult Sully moved back to England and studied art under the tutelage of neoclassical artists Benjamin West and Sir Thomas Lawrence. After completing his studies in England he returned to America and settled in Philadelphia.

Sully’s career was dominated by his production of portraits. He notably painted portraits of Marquis De Lafayette, Thomas Jefferson, Queen Victoria, Edgar Allen Poe, and Andrew Jackson. Sully’s work in portraiture was famous for his smooth lines and chiaroscuro. His prolific work in the field led to some thinking of him as “The Prince of American Portraiture”.

Commissioning
In 1815 following the end of the war of 1812, the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina authorized the production of a statue of George Washington by Antonio Canova. Additionally, they requested the production of two portraits of Washington. Rembrandt Peale and Thomas Sully were approached in regards to the portraits. Rembrandt Peale requested compensation of $1500 for a full length portrait of George Washington and an additional $1000 for a copy of the work. On the other hand, Sully offered to produce a copy of Gilbert Stuart’s rendition of a portrait of George Washington for $400 and an additional original historical portrait of George Washington for $600.

Despite Sully’s work being dominated by portraiture, he still identified himself as an artist focused on “History and Portraits”. Most painters at the time believed that historical paintings were a field in which it was possible to gain notoriety, while the production of portraits was a way to earn a living. North Carolina chose Sully’s economical offer and accepted Sully’s request of painting “the passage of the Delaware preparatory to the battle of Princeton”.

Sully delivered his copy of Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington in 1819 and finalized his plans for his historical painting. These plans lead to the production of a painting much larger than previously discussed with the State. He wrote to Governor John Branch requesting specifications on how large the image could be. Governor Branch took a prolonged period of time to respond, only responding well after the painting had been set in its dimensions. Due to its large dimensions there was no obvious place for the painting in the capitol building. Governor Branch and the state legislature decided that because of the large size, as well as the presence of two other depictions of George Washington in the capitol building that the historical painting was no longer needed. Governor Branch and Thomas Sully mutually agreed to terminate the contract. The works size is heavily influenced by

Instead of displaying the painting in the North Carolina capitol building Sully took the image on tour with him. However this exhibition tour was not successful and the painting was sold to John Doggett a wealthy Bostonian frame maker for $500 to take the image off his hands.

Setting
Sully closely follows first hand accounts from the night of the crossing of the Delaware when composing the setting of the work. Across the river, through snow, mist, and darkness, the outline of a small house can be seen that depicts McKonkey's ferry house, a landmark frequently referenced in accounts of the crossing. Scattered in the river and traveling towards the house, are the flat bottom Durham Boats that Washington used to ferry his men across the Delaware River and into New Jersey, which are slightly less obscured than the house. The last artillery piece appears to roll down the hill towards the left of the image. Additionally, Sully depicts the actions of Washington and his men under the illumination of the light of moonlight, which has been confirmed from moon phase records showing that the night of December 25th, 1776 was a full moon. The snow and mist of the night, that contribute to the distant haze have also been confirmed from first hand accounts of the crossing. While most of the painting is true to the exact events of the night Sully adds the sun rising in the distance, despite that the entire crossing was performed before three o'clock in the morning.

Surrounding Washington, Sully depicts several men. William Lee, George Washington's servant who was a slave, is depicted to the right of Washington on horseback in what some consider to be an idealized representation relative to other depictions at the time. Immediately behind Washington, Sully places a man on horseback pointing a sword and orchestrating the movement of troops. This man is believed to be Colonel Henry Knox, who was in charge of directing troop movement in the crossing. The other two men surrounding Washington have not been positively identified.

Depiction of George Washington
Amongst the darkness and haze of the night, Sully places George Washington in the bright, foreground of the work, seated on a white horse watching on as the artillery brigade completes their crossing. The light surrounding George Washington Creates a dramatic highlight and calls attention to Sully's depiction of poise and determination in George Washington's face and posture. In his depiction of George Washington, he was influenced by the busts created by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, as well as Italian sculptor Giuseppe Ceracchi. Sully was very influenced by the bust produced by Ceracchi due to the facial expression it depicted in Washington similarly to the expression that Sully envisioned him having at the depicted moment. In his depiction of the uniform worn by Washington and other various items in the work like swords and muskets, Sully depicts them similarly to how these items are depicted in works of Washington by Charles Willson Peale and John Trumbull.

Display
After purchasing the painting from Sully, John Doggett displayed the image in his repository, which he advertised to the general public. In 1841 the painting to the Boston Museum, which was a theater on Tremont Street in Boston that also had a picture gallery. The Boston Museum closed in 1903 and the painting was gifted by the Boston Museum to the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). The painting remained on display at the MFA until 1972 when it was put in storage. The image returned to display and can currently be found in the Art of the America's exhibit.

See also[edit]

 * Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851 painting by Emanuel Leutze.