George Washington Crossing the Delaware Essay

The painting, George Washington Crossing the Delaware is an interesting and well done portrait of one of the most important events in American history. The painting depicts the American revolutionary forces as they cross the Delaware River on their way to fight an important battle against the British army. There are several important and interesting details of the painting that indicate important historical details and also serve to enhance the look of the painting. The most interesting thing is the attention to detail itself. The artist obviously took a great deal of time to research the history itself and get the event correct down to every single thing he could find. This is evidenced by the ice in the river and also the decorations on the uniforms. In addition to that, light plays a very important role in the painting. Sunlight is breaking into the picture in the background of the painting and it shines directly on George Washington. This is important because it puts the focus of the painting on George Washington and also because it adds some depth to the painting. The painting takes great care to show the absolute struggle that the Patriots had to go through just to get to the battle. Paddling those full boats would not have been easy under normal conditions, but it was especially difficult under the cold, icy conditions that were present. The painter shows that almost every person on the boat had to work as hard as they possibly could in order to make the boat go. This is important in both a historical sense and in the context of creating an interesting painting.