W&L Unveils Gift of Portrait of George Washington
Washington and Lee University has unveiled an anonymous gift to the University of a 19th century contemporary copy of “George Washington Crossing the Delaware.”
The painting by Edward Everard Arnold hangs in a prominent position on the Benefactor’s Wall in the foyer of Washington Hall on W&L’s Colonnade.
“This painting is a contemporary copy of an important icon of American history that depicts a pivotal moment in the career of one of the namesakes of Washington and Lee University,” said Patricia Hobbs, curator and associate director of University Collections.
The Washington portrait is an anonymous gift in memory of W&L alumnus Charles Walter Hay ’38 and is a copy of the 1851 oil painting by the German American artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It commemorates General George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River in 1776 during the American Revolutionary War and is the most recognizable symbol of the American Revolution.
