"The Passage of the Delaware was commissioned by the state of North Carolina for the Senate Hall of the State House in Raleigh. ...Sully's painting was never hung in the State House. Although Sully had corresponded with the North Carolina governor regarding the dimensions of his canvas, he had already begun painting by the time he received a reply. The final composition was too large to fit in any of the spaces of the Senate Hall. Instead, shortly after its completion, the artist sold the painting to John Doggett, a Boston frame maker who also exhibited pictures. It was purchased from Doggett before 1841 by the Boston Museum-no relation to the Museum of Fine Arts, but rather a theater with a picture gallery located on Tremont Street-where it remained until 1903, when the owners gave it to the MFA."-- [1]