Romanticism
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Casper David Friedrich
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| When: |
1774-1840 |
| Where: |
Germany |
| What: |
Landscape painter.
Landscape painting was at the bottom of the hierarchy of paintings.
His works are more allegories than mere landscape paintings. |
| What: |
Subject:
- Landscape
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Composition:
- Rather often place a figure in the foreground with the back
facing the viewer.
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| What: |
Cross in the Mountains
1807-08
Oil on canvas
115 x 110 cm (without frame)
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden |
Setting sun represents God, who no longer shows himself
directly to mankind.
Body of Christ reflecting this light to mankind.
Evergreen fir trees represents continuing hope.
It was said that many who saw this piece of work at that
time were moved.
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| What: |
The Monk by the Sea
1809-10
oil on canvas
110x172cm
Berlin, Nationalgalerie |
A writer, Marie von Kugelgen (1809) wrote: “A vast
endless expanse of sky… still, no wind, no moon, no storm,…
no boat, no ship, not even a sea monster, not even a blade
of grass, only a few gulls float in the air and make the loneliness
even more desolate and horrible.”
Another, Heinich Kleist: “the only spark of life in
the vast realm of death, the lonely centre of a lonely circle.”
The scale of the human in comparison to the overall landscape
heightened the sense of loneliness and helplessness - Man
before God.
Succeeded in showing nature as nature and yet have it convey
a religious meaning.
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| What: |
Oak Tree in the Snow unknown |
Oak is said to be the tree from which the cross
is made of.
Symbol of solidity and endurance.
Endurance of Christianity against adversity.
It is also a symbol of Germany.
New leaves growing - new beginning. |
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| What: |
The Sea of Ice
c. 1823-25
Oil on canvas
96.7 x 126.9 cm
Kunsthalle, Hamburg |
Wreck of the ship Griper, which participated
in expeditions to the North Pole in 1819-20 and 1824.
Ice turned skywards - expression of divinity of nature.
Wrecked ship - failure of mankind to conquer nature or attain
godliness.
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| What: |
Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog
c. 1818
Oil on canvas
94.8 x 74.8 cm
Kunsthalle, Hamburg |
This painting along with many others show the
characteristic of Friedrich who would place a figure with the
back facing the viewer in the painting. What effect do you think
such a placement has? |
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| What: |
Friedrich elevated the status of landscape paintings
to equal that of history and religious paintings. His work provided
possibilities for the Symbolists. |
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