By looking at Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze we can see examples of color, composition and movement. This is important because they all help to establish Washington Crossing the Delaware as a symbol of American bravery and triumph. This is because the painting is of General George Washington crossing the Delaware to attack the British. This battle marked a turning point in the American Revolution and on Americas road to freedom. When looking at a symbol like this painting, we must also look deeper and see what makes it a symbol. This is where color, composition and movement come into play. They each play a vital role in making this painting become the symbol that it is.

When looking at Washington Crossing the Delaware, the first thing that you will notice is the sharp contrast in color. This contrast is formed because of the use of dark colors on the right side of the painting and the use of light colors on the left side. The right side is composed of colors such as dark grey and black which are used to create a stormy sky. On the left side however the light colors of blue, orange and yellow create a peaceful and tranquil sky. In the painting, the boat that George Washington and his army are traveling from the right side to the left. That means that him and his army are heading from the dark and stormy side to the peaceful and tranquil side. The traveling from the side with the dark colors to the side with light colors is used to show how America is going from colonial rule under the British to freedom and self-governance. Another example of the way color is used to make this painting into a symbol is the bright red on George Washington’s cloak. The bright red of George Washington’s cloak is the brightest shade of red that is used in the painting. This red is even redder than the red on the American flag. The bright red is used to bring the viewers full attention to Washington. George Washington is the subject of this painting and the bright red cloak helps to point that out. The light red in the flag is used to show how at this time, America was weak and was still fighting for its independence. The bright red in Washington’s cloak however is used to demonstrate his power and to show how he would be the one to lead the American people to victory.

Composition is also used throughout Washington Crossing the Delaware. The composition in this painting takes on many different forms, from the placement of the American flag and George Washington to the height of the other men in the boat. In Washington Crossing the Delaware, the American flag is placed directly between the dark and light sides. This demonstrates America’s position at the time between it’s dark past and its bright future. In the painting, George Washington is placed on the left side of the painting in the light side. This shows that George Washington is the one leading America to its bright future. In the painting, the river is filled with waves and chunks of floating ice which make it seem deadly and hard to cross. Because of these conditions, all of the men in the boats are depicted leaning or sitting down except for George Washington. This serves two purposes, the first is to make George Washington seem taller and more powerful than the rest of the men in the boat. The second purpose is to show that even in the very rough and dangerous river, George Washington is able to stand up tall. The helps demonstrate that George Washington is a strong and capable leader even in bad times. Also on the left side of the painting, you can see in the distance numerous boats filled with things like men, cannons and horses. This shows just how large Washington’s army was and just how many people he was leading across the Delaware River. This also helps to show how great of a leader George Washington was and the fact that he could lead large numbers of people.

Another major element of this painting is the movement. George Washington Crossing the Delaware, is filled with different examples of movement. Movement can be seen from the waves in the river to the wind in the flag. Also examples of movement can be seen in the men rowing the boat across the river. The movement in their arms helps to show how hard it is to row the boats across the river. You can see by how high the men’s shoulders were moving while they were rowing that they must have been rowing very hard. Also the movement of the waves helps to show how bad the conditions that the men were rowing in were. The movement of the waves and the movement of the flag blowing backwards in the wind helps to show how hard the wind was blowing towards the boat. The wind blowing towards the boat would have made rowing across the river even harder. This is being used to demonstrate how everything, even elements were against the American army that day. More examples of movement would be the movement in many of the men’s legs in the boats as they manually pushed the chunks of ice away from their boats.

The visual artifacts of color, composition and movement help to form the amazing painting that is Washington Crossing the Delaware. Those artifacts not only form the painting, but turn it into the symbol of American freedom that is today. The contrasting light and dark colors help to show America’s dark past and its journey on the way to its bright future. The composition of the photo demonstrates the place that our great nation was in at the time of this painting and the strength of its great leader George Washington. The movement of the waves, wind and men in the boat help to show how bad the weather conditions were and how hard the men had to row to cross the Delaware River. These different aspects of the painting might not seem like much on their own but they come together to create this great painting. They also come together to transform Washington Crossing the Delaware from just a painting into a very important symbol of the United States of America.