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feels distant from the viewer and at a great height. The light from behind the cross darkens the part of the mountain that we see. The low sun may be rising or setting; its five stylized rays travel upward, and one creates a gleam on Christ, suggesting a metal sculpture. Ivy grows at the base of the cross. According to Siegel, the design of the altarpiece is the "logical climax of many earlier drawings of which depicted a cross in nature's world" (see
235:. She had seen a similar sepia work by Friedrich and was enamored of it. The painter was at first resistant to accepting the commission, tending to paint only when the muse struck him, but he agreed when he found a design for an overall altarpiece that he thought would be in harmony with the chapel setting. Research in 1977, however, found that Friedrich had conceived the painting before the commission, and that he intended to dedicate it to King
211:. Travelling up the frame, Gothic columns support palm branches from which five angels emerge, with a star above the central one. The design, in recalling sacred art of much earlier periods, solidified the painting's function as an altarpiece and gave contemporary viewers "an allegorical directive for reading the painting scene thus enclosed", although any allegorical reading would have been debatable given the unique combination of genres.
239:(which became moot when the king was deposed by the end of 1808). The Thun-Hohensteins became aware of these details by August 1808. The countess's mother objected to both the price and the format of the artwork, stating that it would never be used in the family's chapel or elsewhere in the castle. They did eventually purchase it, but it was hung in the bedroom of the countess. Friedrich wanted to visit the family to see his altarpiece
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wall, but placed on a table as in
Friedrich's design drawing. Friedrich therefore tried to recreate the conditions of a chapel in his studio: he lowered the lighting and placed the piece on a table covered with black cloth. Lilienstern, who was present, documented the event and concluded: "Torn from context and placed in a room not adapted for such a display, the picture would lose a large part of its intended effect."
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266:, a Protestant denomination that sought a "radically inward devotion ... faith was 'not in thoughts nor in the head, but in the heart, a light illuminated in the heart'". Friedrich's painting reflected this sentiment, and it contains what can be interpreted as one of Gustav IV's symbols, the midnight sun. According to Norbert Wolf, the
311:), morphed into one about the challenge to Enlightenment aesthetics posed by the burgeoning Romanticism. Koerner considers Friedrich's supporters to have failed in rebutting Ramdohr's specific criticisms, but their agenda was just as much to present a new way to understand and evaluate art. The art historian concludes, "Just as
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forms, and who among us wants and is able to determine that it might not agree to forms not yet known. Friedrich's originality should be all the more welcome to us, since it presents us with a form of landscape painting previously less noticed, in which, within its very peculiarity, is revealed a spirited striving after truth."
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great height, and wherever it is, the detail of the landscape would not be as visible as
Friedrich makes it. An exhibition book noted the formal innovations of Friedrich's landscapes: an "unwillingness to construct a continuous space from interconnected layers the absence of a unifying tonality in his use of color".
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and other masters in the precision of the depiction: "every little twig, every needle on the firs, every spot on the cliff is expressed... the outer silhouette is completely exact"—but this was a criticism, given the viewer's distant location: "in order to see the mountain simultaneously with the sky
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The canvas departs from a naturalistic landscape in a number of ways. The handling of light is not realistic; art historian Linda Siegel suggests that the sun is not the only source of light—that a mystical source of illumination must also be present. The viewer's location is unclear, seemingly at a
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silhouetted in profile on a rock atop a mountain, surrounded by fir trees below. The cross, facing toward the sun, reaches the highest point in the picture but is presented obliquely and from a distance. The pictorial space is almost two-dimensional, and by lacking any foreground element, the scene
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and other artists responded to
Ramdohr in defense of Friedrich. Kügelgen objected to Ramdohr's desire to adhere to formalized aesthetic principles, arguing that the art of the future could not be limited by ideals developed out of the past: "Throughout art history we observe art consent to varied
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On
Christmas Day of 1808, Friedrich, responding to his friends' interest in the painting, exhibited the work in his studio. The artist was reluctant to do so, given that the altarpiece was designed with a specific location, the Tetschen chapel, in mind. The altar was never meant to be hung from a
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succeeded as a landscape painting; if allegory was suitable in landscape painting; and if the work's "ambition to serve as an altarpiece for
Christian worship compatible with the true nature of art and religion". His answer was always no: "It is true presumption when landscape painting wants to
262:. Gustav IV Adolf confirmed his recognition of Germany in declaring, "May I yet see the day when I behold Germany, as my second fatherland, restored to the standing to which its estimable nation and the fame of centuries give it undeniable right". The king was also a pious man influenced by the
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was "thus first and foremost not an altarpiece but a piece of political propaganda... up the liberation ideology of the
Swedish monarchy". Koerner and Wolf assert that when the political allegory was no longer available to Friedrich, the interpretation of the picture could shift easily from a
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in this relation, would have had to stand several thousand paces away, on the same level with the mountain and in such a way that the line of the horizon parallels the mountain. From such a distance he would not have been able to see any detail."
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slink into the church and creep on to the altars". Ramdohr was also early in identifying the "Germanness" of the painting, and the element of nationalism. Siegel notes that
Ramdohr, a classicist, did not understand the philosophy of the new
243:, not being aware of its actual location. His patrons discouraged him by lying about their plans for the painting's location or its current whereabouts. Nevertheless, the Tetschen Castle was home to the altarpiece from 1809 to 1921.
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Although it was controversial and generally coldly received, it was nevertheless
Friedrich's first painting to receive wide publicity. The artist's friends publicly defended the work, while art critic
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Friedrich's desire to dedicate the painting to Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden complicates not only the story of the commission, but the painting's interpretation. Friedrich was from the town of
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political to a more purely religious one, in line with the ideals of German
Romanticism. Friedrich continued to use German-nationalist themes in his paintings throughout his career.
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was considered the highest genre of art; Friedrich's use of landscape to evoke a spiritual message was thus controversial, causing debate between proponents of
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Friedrich responded to criticisms with a programme describing his intentions, marking the only time that he publicly offered commentary on his art. He wrote:
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Mitchell, Timothy F. (1982). "From Vedute to Vision: The
Importance of Popular Imagery in Friedrich's Development of Romantic Landscape Painting".
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in 1648, ending with Napoleon's invasion in 1806. For an anti-French, German patriot like Friedrich, Napoleon's invasion stoked feelings of
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The genesis of Friedrich's altarpiece is not straightforward. For decades, art historians accepted the account of Friedrich's close friend,
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constitutes a revolution in landscape painting, its Romantic defense signals a revolution in the language and practice of art criticism".
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of trees and rocks that can be located in this painting. Friedrich's contemporary critic Ramdohr admitted the influence of
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artists, who felt that "traditional religious iconography could not allow man to experience a mystical union with God".
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German Masters of the Nineteenth Century: Paintings and Drawings from the Federal Republic of Germany
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The landscape shows great attention to detail in the modeling of nature. Friedrich made a number of
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From Caspar David Friedrich to Gerhard Richter: German Paintings from Dresden
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exhibition (Koerner claimed the exhibited item is lost, but Wolf pictures it)
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447:(1811). Friedrich situated the cross in other paintings made soon after the
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Friedrich's 1807 design for the altarpiece. Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden.
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Two Men Contemplating the Moon; Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon
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The gilded frame, designed by Friedrich and formed by the sculptor
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Prager, Brad (2002). "Kant in Caspar David Friedrich's Frames".
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This pencil and sepia (c. 1805/06) had been shown in an 1807
760:(2nd ed.). London/New York: Prestel. ISBN 978-3-7913-8357-6.
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is within a triangle with wheat and a vine, symbols of the
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Caspar David Friedrich and the Age of German Romanticism
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Wolf writes that they "fobbed him off with excuses".
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768:(2nd ed.). London: Reaktion Books.
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1205:Caspar David Friedrich in his Studio
618:. New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 14.
227:for her Catholic family's chapel in
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614:Metropolitan Museum of Art (1981).
546:. Getty Publications. p. 34.
16:Painting by Caspar David Friedrich
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787:. Boston: Branden Publishing Co.
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911:Cross in the Mountains
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804:Caspar David Friedrich
802:Wolf, Norbert (2003).
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285:Basilius von Ramdohr
260:Romantic nationalism
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116:
115:
110:
109:
108:
31:
30:
18:
1264:Altarpieces
1216:(1986 film)
1146:(1830–1835)
1138:(1830–1835)
1130:(1830–1834)
1114:(1828–1830)
1010:(1818–1820)
922:(1808–1810)
709:Koerner, 69
700:Koerner, 68
691:Koerner, 72
646:Art History
634:Koerner, 71
197: [
156:Description
1238:Categories
975:The Gazebo
504:References
248:Greifswald
215:Commission
205:Eye of God
126:altarpiece
1189:(c. 1803)
1181:(c. 1803)
1090:(1824–25)
1082:(1823–24)
962:(c. 1816)
946:(1810–11)
938:(1809–10)
930:(1809–10)
895:Paintings
209:Eucharist
164:with the
136:. In the
487:See also
229:Tetschen
86:Location
29:German:
1197:Related
1023:Evening
1018:(1820s)
751:Sources
741:3050244
334:Gallery
241:in situ
233:Bohemia
182:studies
171:Gallery
94:Dresden
66: (
1173:(1803)
1162:Prints
1154:(1835)
1143:Sunset
1122:(1831)
1106:(1828)
1098:(1827)
1074:(1823)
1066:(1822)
1058:(1822)
1050:(1822)
1042:(1822)
1034:(1821)
1026:(1821)
1002:(1818)
994:(1818)
986:(1818)
978:(1818)
970:(1817)
954:(1812)
914:(1808)
906:(1807)
810:
791:
772:
739:
622:
550:
256:German
76:Medium
51:Artist
737:JSTOR
201:]
808:ISBN
789:ISBN
770:ISBN
620:ISBN
548:ISBN
258:and
68:1808
64:1808
61:Year
729:doi
654:doi
173:).
1240::
735:.
725:64
723:.
675:^
650:25
648:.
607:^
587:^
571:^
511:^
231:,
199:de
140:,
92:,
871:e
864:t
857:v
816:.
797:.
778:.
743:.
731::
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656::
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451:.
307:(
70:)
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