Washington Crossing the Delaware–Evening Previous to the Battle of Trenton, December 25th, 1776

Washington Crossing the Delaware–Evening Previous to the Battle of Trenton, December 25th, 1776

Nathaniel Currier

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Scene from the American Revolution. George Washington seated on horse at right overlooking troops loading into boats to cross the Delaware River.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Washington Crossing the Delaware–Evening Previous to the Battle of Trenton, December 25th, 1776Washington Crossing the Delaware–Evening Previous to the Battle of Trenton, December 25th, 1776Washington Crossing the Delaware–Evening Previous to the Battle of Trenton, December 25th, 1776Washington Crossing the Delaware–Evening Previous to the Battle of Trenton, December 25th, 1776Washington Crossing the Delaware–Evening Previous to the Battle of Trenton, December 25th, 1776

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.