Student name
Institution affiliation
Course; LEH 353 Art online.
Assignment #1
Instructor
Date
George Washington Crossing Delaware
The background of the art portrays a small indistinct light figure of gentlemen who are with the horses and a cannon that is crossed the river. The canon and the horses are loaded onto the flatboat. However, according to my view, the rearing of the horses and the disarrays of oars shows the moment of joy.
At large rectangle that dominates the composition with the bow and stern of the boat explains the two lower corners. While on the upper part of the flag I can see a person serving at the apex. From the art, the unnatural cloud formation which is painted in the background down from the tip of the flagpole towards the stern of the boat, is very essential because it accentuates the rectangle’s effect (Beehner, Lionel). Also, within the rectangle there are diagonals where the oarsmen’s bodies placed against the position of oars. Besides, there is a pole that is used to dislodge ice by the person who is sitting in the bow, while the oars is placed outside of the oar-lock. The oarsmen both point towards the same person. He is painted while standing. He is very vital in the art because he is identified as the “central figure”. In addition, the bright sky from behind shows the head frame of the person’s profile. Further it simply the importance of that figure. The person has a big sword that is hanging from the belt. The sword symbolizes the nature power that he is having. He carries a spyglass, which identifies him as a person with vision and patriotism. The art manipulates light and shadows to achieve three-dimensional modeling. Though, there is the presence of unnaturally light seems to be two light sources in the painting. The additional boat seems to be painted smaller and raced further down the river into the background. The art consists of a large portion of dark color, also there are muted colors that symbolize the stormy conditions. But the art uses red color sparingly as a highlight color in the figure’s uniform and pieces of a couple of the men.
The overall effect of the image is that it indicates victory on the troops, therefore the soldiers celebrated their victory that secured the role of their leader.
The image evokes an idea that the bold general which is the figure that identified in the art navigates through the ice-covered river, accompanied by his patriots who are for the elements on their journey to triumph. The “Washington crossing the Delaware” shows a feeling on both sides of the river. The painting portrays the patriotic emotions like joy, happiness to the countless affected people who gained the victory (Beehner, Lionel). Besides, one would imagine passing through a frozen river more especially during night time is hard enough without coming with a great contingent of heavy artillery pieces with them.
The victory seems to be different from the story because earlier the leader and the soldiers were struggling to see how to win the battle. But getting the victory they celebrate together for securing leadership.
Work cited.
Beehner, Lionel. “The Art of Command: Military Leadership from George Washington to Colin Powell.” Parameters 48.2 (2018): 90.