An Iconic Painting’s Historic Inaccuracies
The historical inaccuracy’s of Leutze’s painting is understandable. It was intended as a dramatic work of art, with all the artistic license that goes with that. Also, Leutze painted it seventy five years later: as much time separated him from the event depicted, as separates us in 2023 from the Allied invasion of Sicily or the Battle of Kursk. On top of all that, Leutze did not paint Washington Crossing the Delaware anywhere close to the site of the event, but in Germany.
The flag is the first inaccuracy. Leutze painted an early version of the Stars and Stripes – a design that did not exist in 1776 when Washington crossed the Delaware. The flag depicted was designed six months later, in June, 1777, and flew for the first time that September. The flag that Washington and his men would have used in 1776 would have been the Grand Union Flag – basically today’s US flag, but with a British Union Jack instead of stars. The most inaccurate bit about the painting though, as seen below, is its depiction of the very crossing.
