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Emanuel Leutze composed this Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way as a study for his massive mural in the U.S. Capitol. The work celebrates American westward expansion, showing pioneers crossing a mountain pass with the golden promise of the frontier ahead.
Best known for Washington Crossing the Delaware, Leutze specialized in American historical subjects. The mural's title comes from a poem by Bishop George Berkeley. Painted in 1861 as the Civil War began, it expressed national optimism during dark times. This study hangs at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington.

John James Audubon
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.

George Inness
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.

Emanuel Leutze
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.

John James Audubon
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Other masterpieces from the Romanticism movement

Francisco Goya, 1823
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid

Eugène Delacroix, 1834
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Francisco Goya, 1814
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid

Francisco Goya, 1800
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid

Francisco Goya, 1823
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid

Eugène Delacroix, 1827
Louvre, Paris, Paris

Francisco Goya, 1800
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Madrid

J.M.W. Turner, 1839
National Gallery, London
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