George Washington Crossing the Delaware
This painting portrays the
historic moment when General George Washington led the American revolutionary
troops across the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776, in order to
surprise the English and Hessian troops at what would become known as the
Battle of Trenton. The original painting is more than 12 feet high and
21 feet long. It was painted in 1851 by the American artist, Emanuel Leutze.
Leutze used a number of elements to express an emotional and patriotic
message about this event:
Perspective
Perspective is the way in which artists create
an illusion of depth on a flat surface. For hundreds of years painters
have tried to represent accurately a scene that exists in three dimensions
on a two-dimensional canvas. One of the ways to create this illusion is
to make the objects that are far away smaller than those that are closer
to the viewer. The soldiers in the distance are much smaller than those
in the foreground boat, giving the illusion that General Washington's boat
is closer to us than the others.
Light
Just as stage designers use lighting to spotlight
a performer, painters will often highlight important elements in paintings.The
standing group in the center of the boat is surrounded by light. This effect
keeps our attention focused on the main aspects of the historic event:
that General George Washington would become the first president and that
this event would culminate in the country's separation from England, symbolized
by the American flag.
Moreover, Leutze uses light in the painting to exaggerate
nature. By making the sky unnaturally bright around General Washington's
head and enhancing it with a red, white and blue rainbow, the artist has
heightened our emotional reactions to the painting. When an artist changes
nature, he or she is using a distortion for a particular purpose.
Color
Leutze has used mostly dark tones in this painting,
probably because the crossing took place at dawn. The color red, however,
is repeated as a highlight in the painting in the shirt, pants, sleeves,
cuffs, scarves, and cape. Leutze surrounds the central boat group with
the color red. This keeps our attention on the primary subjects: Washington
and the flag. Notice that there are no red areas in the background or in
the other boats to distract our eyes from the foreground activity.
Form
Leutze's figures look as if they exist in three
dimensions, even though they are really as flat as the canvas. One way
he gives his figures three-dimensional form is to reflect light off their
bodies and paint shadows cast by them. Our eyes know that when an object
both reflects light and has a shadow it must also have volume. Just as
sculptors carve stone to create volume, painters "model" their figures
in light and shadow to give them a three-dimensional form. Without this
effect, the figures would seem flat and two dimensional.
Motion
Depicting motion is a technique painters use
to keep our attention focused on the picture. Notice the following elements
in the painting which appear to be moving. Look how the oars are pointing
in different directions. This makes the boat seem as though it is rocking
as it struggles against the wind, currents, and other obstacles.
Water filled with menacing ice floes splashes against the
boat. Armed with oars and poles, the soldiers struggle to keep chunks of
ice from battering the side of the boat. Although the boat does not seem
to be moving very quickly, there are indications that it is making headway
across the river. Each of the soldiers is working hard to keep the boat
on its course. The flag is also a motion indicator. Its fabric is blown
back by the wind, possibly from the boat's propulsion forward. Colonel
James Monroe (who would become the fifth United States president) struggles
at Washington's side to keep the flag aloft, as an inspirational symbol
for the other troops. General Washington appears to be the only element
in the painting that does NOT move. Washington stands erect and resolute,
focusing his thoughts on the future, not on the worries of the moment.
His confidence is inspiring to his soldiers as they struggle against great
odds to cross the icy river at dawn.
Proportion
Proportion usually refers to the way different
elements in a painting relate to each other in terms of size. If the figure
of General Washington were twice as large as the other sailors, we would
say that he was out of proportion to the scale of figures in the painting.
Look at the painting and see if you can find an object whose size seems
too small in relationship with everything else. Do you think that a boat
this size could keep twelve men afloat? Probably not. In fact, Washington
used a Durham boat, which was much larger and could hold 30 to 40 people
(although they were still crowded).By decreasing the size of the boat relative
to the figures inside, Leutze could concentrate our attention on the physical
struggle the soldiers were enduring in order to complete their task. Leutze
exaggerates proportion to build up our emotion toward the painting and
the event it represents.
Please answer the following questions:
1. Who painted 'George Washington Crossing the Delaware'
and when?
2. How does the artist exaggerate nature to heighten our
emotional reaction to the painting? What color is emphasized and
why?
3. Which future President of the United States ( in addition
to Washington) is also pictured in the boat?
4. What is the only element in the painting that does not
appear to move? Why not?
5. Which object in the painting seems too small in relationship
with everything else? Why did Leutze paint it this way?
Return
to Study Guide #4
Revised
February 7, 2001
by Tom Gallup, e-mail address: tom_gallup@westvalley.edu
West Valley College
http://www.westvalley.edu/wvc/ss/gallup/gallup.html