History coming to life

Today I enjoyed a very private tour (no one else showed up) through the Met’s American Art exhibit, which, like most of the museum, is a true marvel.

Growing up I enjoyed reading about history, but somehow it was always a very rational pursuit. In short, I mostly took what I read as a story or an interesting fact. I found it difficult to identify viscerally with the events, to truly put myself in the shoes of the people that experienced them.

Today I’m reminded that history, at its best, makes past events come to life: Descriptions of the life of dutch settlers sharing the island of Manhattan with only 500 other pioneers from a multitude of nationalities and backgrounds, Washington’s men crossing the Delaware during a freezing cold Christmas eve, the extravagance of the Vanderbilt’s gilded age.

How can one not be in awe of the fortitude, the creativity and resourcefulness, the insanity and obsession of those that came before us?

https://m.primal.net/KgBz.png 
Emmanuel Leutze’s “Washington Crossing the Delaware” (1851)