Literary Evening: Washington Crossing the Delaware and the stories we’ve told since - in art, in poetry, and first hand
Wed, Dec 10
|Mather Homestead Barn
Join MH Literary Guru Samantha Gault as we explore the many portrayals of George Washington's famous crossing of the Delaware on December 25, 1776 -- from art, to poetry and more.
Time & Location
Dec 10, 2025, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Mather Homestead Barn, 19 Stephen Mather Rd, Darien, CT 06820, USA
About the event
So much to be discussed!
In 1819, portrait painter Thomas Sully completed The Passage of the Delaware, the earliest known representation of the crossing. Unlike many later artists, Sully depicted the moment before George Washington began his passage: the general sits astride his white horse on the Pennsylvania side of the river, looking over his shoulder to observe his troops as they begin to cross. Calm and resolute, the central figure of Washington dwarfs the men under his command. In Sully’s composition, Washington remains isolated from the action, leading from above.
The most famous painting, on display at the Met, is Emanuel Leutze's 1851 epic painting Washington Crossing the Delaware, which honors a critical turning point in the American colonists’ war against Great Britain. It was a great success in Leutze’s native Germany—given the country’s own revolutionary fervor of the period—as well as in the United States, where it quickly…
