the wandering man painting

A Closer Look at Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich

In this post, I take a closer look at Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich. It is an iconic work of Romanticism that features a man standing on the edge of the rocky terrain, looking out over the foggy landscape. I cover:

Key Facts and Ideas

Color and light, composition, key takeaways, want to learn more, thanks for reading.

(Before diving into this post, make sure to pick up a copy of my free Landscape Painting Starter Kit .)

• It is also referred to as  Wanderer Above the Mist or  Mountaineer in a Misty Landscape .
• The identity of the man is uncertain. Some have suggested it is a self-portrait of the artist himself, pointing to similarities in appearance, such as the red hair. Historian Joseph Koerner provides a more likely interpretation that it is a certain individual, Colonel Friedrich Gotthard von Brincken. In his book, Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape , he writes:

“Von Brincken was probably killed in action in 1813 or 1814, which would make the 1818 Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog a patriotic epitaph”. Via Sothebys

• The landscape is based on the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in Saxony and Bohemia. It is not an exact depiction of the landscape, rather an amalgamation of various parts. Friedrich would travel the mountains and create sketches. Then, back in the studio, he would construct his own interpretation of the landscape.
• It is considered an iconic work of Romanticism , which is characterized by a deep appreciation of nature.

The sun is the primary light source. The silhouette of the foreground suggests it is overhead and out in front.

The clouds and fog seem to be diffusing the light, meaning it is not a strong and direct light like the midday sun on a clear day. This is considered to be a “good” light to paint under, as it provides enough light for you to clearly see all the colors, but not so much as to wash the colors out. (I provide a cheat sheet on how to paint under different types of light in my Landscape Painting Starter Kit ). 

The colors are restrained, with mostly weak blues, pinks, and yellows. The painting relies much more on value contrast (the contrast between light and dark elements) than hue or saturation contrast. Refer to the grayscale image of the painting below.

As you can see, there is a sharp contrast between light and dark elements. This is because most of the colors are at the extremes of the value scale (the colors are either really light or really dark; there are hardly any mid-tones).

Notice how the darks represent the man, rocks, and other “solid” objects; whilst the lights represent the clouds, sky , and fog. So not only is there a contrast between light and dark, but also between solid and transient.

The values in the painting also get gradually lighter as you recede into the distance, starting with the dark, imposing rocks in the foreground, and ending with the barely visible mountains in the background. The colors also get a touch cooler in temperature . This creates a sense of atmospheric perspective or depth.

Unlike most landscape paintings, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog has portrait dimensions (taller than it is wide). This reiterates the upright stance of the man around the center.

The stance of the man is an important feature of the painting in and of itself. He is leaning primarily on one leg and there is a slight shift in his body to counter this. This is known as contrapposto , which is Italian for “opposite” or “counter”. It is considered a natural and visually pleasing stance (think about what the painting would look like if he was standing straight and rigid).

Most of the painting is taken up by negative space (sky, clouds, and fog). But, there is a sense of balance against the small but powerful areas of positive space (rocks, trees, and man).

Another interesting observation is the open plane of the composition . Other than the foreground at the bottom, there is no use of framing. This helps convey the vastness of the landscape.

In this painting, hard edges are used for the rocks in the foreground and the man. This gives a sense of clarity and closeness. Much softer edges are used for the transient fog, clouds, and sky.

Notice how all the edges get softer as you recede into the distance, yet the relationships stay intact. By relationships, I mean how hard one edge is compared to another.

For example, if you look at the foreground, the edges used for the rocks are harder than the edges used for the fog.

Now, look at the distant mountains. In general, this area is much softer than the foreground. But, the relationships are the same-the edges of the mountains are harder than the fog, clouds, and sky.

The key point here is that relationships matter , much more than the absolute hardness of an edge.

I also draw your attention to the different techniques Friedrich used to alter the hardness of the edges.

One technique is gently blending one color into the next. This softens the edge between two color shapes. The more the colors are blended, the softer the edge.

The other technique relies on the use of contrast, in particular, color contrast. The idea is this: the sharper the contrast between two shapes, the harder the edge. For example, take the following two shapes:

The contrast is sharp and the edge is hard. Watch what happens if I reduce the color contrast between the two shapes.

The transition between the two colors is just as abrupt, but the edge appears much softer.

Below are two more examples using colors from the painting. The first with colors from the foreground-a sharper contrast and a harder edge. The second with colors from the background-a weaker contrast and a softer edge.

• You are not limited to painting only what you see. You can always mix and match different parts to create your own unique composition like Friedrich did in this painting.
• The perspective of the painting has a powerful influence on the focal point. Despite the man being positioned center stage in this painting, the main focus appears to be the vast landscape. We get a chance to see what the man is seeing.
• The light on an overcast day is “good” light to paint under, as it tends to be diffused and balanced.
• You can use color gradations to give a sense of atmospheric perspective.
• A large area of “quiet” negative space can be balanced against a small area of “active” positive space.
• Edge relationships matter, much more than the absolute hardness of the edges.

You might be interested in my  Painting Academy  course. I’ll walk you through the time-tested fundamentals of painting. It’s perfect for absolute beginner to intermediate painters.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this post and I hope you found it helpful. Feel free to share it with friends.

Happy painting!

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Dan Scott is the founder of Draw Paint Academy. He's a self-taught artist from Australia with a particular interest in landscape painting. Draw Paint Academy is run by Dan and his wife, Chontele, with the aim of helping you get the most out of the art life. You can read more on the About page .

35 comments on “A Closer Look at Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich”

Excellent, really helpful. Thanks

Very interesting and informative. Thank you

Great article Dan. Very informative and thought provoking Thank you

Thanks ever so much for all your valuable hits. I genuinely appreciate it.

You are always worth reading. You make me think. Thank you.

This is a particularly helpful and interesting post. Many points to follow up and practice. Thank you

I always look forward to your emails and tips. Credit information and I learn from it every time.

This overview, like so many of your pointers, takes me a long way toward understanding what my own paintings are about. There is so much yet to know if I want to create a good painting intentionally. It makes me appreciate it very much to discover I occasionally succeed accidentally. Thanks so very much for helping us all along!

Very helpful and insightful!

So much important information here. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for the lesson on contrapposto.

This really made me go back and study the painting. I hope I can make use of the valuable information.

You draw my attention to so many different elements and explain them so simply. Thank you.

Wow! I am learning so much and gaining enthusiasm for art! Thank you so much!

Great analysis. I enjoyed…..and learned a lot. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you, Dan, for your inspirational analysis of this painting. I have been grappling with inserting a human figure in the foreground of a snowy winter landscape. I now see a way through to doing it!

I have never seen this painting before but you made it come alive for me. Thank you for the analysis and the painting tips.

Dan, sempre fico esperando seus e-mails sobre as análises de pinturas. Gostaria que você fizesse uma análise de uma pintura de Vermeer. Obrigado

Really appreciate the takeaways.

Dan thanks for pointing out how to compose and look at the colors. I am not a painter at all but I pay more attention in the real life nature and see what you just brought out.

Very clear and concise! Thank you for the wonderful post!👍👏🏼

Loved this painting and I have learned from it because of your walking me thru it

Hi Dan, I like this work, even without the figure it is a nice study in painting scenery. Including my arch nemesis “ROCKS”. Another success story from the Start cott vault. Thanks, Dave M.😎🇦🇺

Ii appreciate this type of newsletter. It’s different and informative. Thank you for it!

I love these…you’ve shown things I wouldn’t have noticed.

Very helpful, thank you.

So helpful. Struggling with edges and this explains the technique. Thank you

Valuable insights . Thank you.

Can’t go over value and contrast too much. Thanks Dan

Thank you for this thoughtful post. I found the discussion of the human pose as integrated into the more dominant landscape very useful!

This beautiful& romantic painting helps set the mood for Valentine’s Day this upcoming Friday. Thanks!

Thank you once again.

That was really nice, thank you! I would just add that this genre of painting used the landscape as a symbol for spiritualism and added elements of Greek and Roman influence. That specific contraposto stance symbolized virtue and extreme spirituality during the Renaissance.

Hi As I have never formally studied art I am finding your analyses of art fascinating. Thanks heaps!

Thank you so much for this post! It was really well written and helpful for studying this painting.

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“Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (c. 1818) by Caspar David Friedrich has become an iconic painting depicting the depths of solitude. It is one of the finest examples from the German Romantic art movement and the one that we will discuss in more detail in this article.

Table of Contents

• 1 Artist Abstract: Who Was Caspar David Friedrich?
• 2.1.1 The Man and His Outfit: Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog Meaning
• 3.1 Visual Description: Subject Matter
• 3.2 Color, Value, and Light
• 3.3 Texture
• 3.4 Line, Form, and Shape
• 3.5 Space 
• 4 In the Presence and Precipice of Greatness
• 5.1 Who Painted Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog?
• 5.2 When Was Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog Made?
• 5.3 Where Is Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog?

Artist Abstract: Who Was Caspar David Friedrich?

Caspar David Friedrich was born on 5 September 1774 and died on 7 May 1840, in Germany in the town of Greifswald. In his early years, he studied under Johann Gottfried Quistorp at the University of Greifswald and was introduced to various other notable artists and ideas around nature and God.

He attended the Copenhagen Academy from 1794 to 1798, after which he relocated to Dresden. He became popular for his landscape paintings that were deeply rooted in aspects of the sublime and spiritual. In Friedrich’s personal life, he experienced numerous deaths of family and friends, and he was remembered as a solitary person.

His artworks influenced many other art styles like Surrealism, Symbolism, and Abstract Expressionism. He was also admired by Adolf Hitler.

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (c. 1818) by Caspar David Friedrich in Context

Below we will provide a brief contextual analysis exploring the Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog meaning. In German this painting is titled Der Wanderer Über Dem Nebelmeer . We will then provide a formal analysis, discussing the subject matter and Friedrich’s artistic approaches in terms of the art elements like color, texture, line, form, and space, which all set the tone for an ambient and deeply moving subject.

Contextual Analysis: A Brief Socio-Historical Overview

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich was painted during the early 1800s, at a time in Europe when Romanticism was a prevailing style in arts and culture, ranging from literature, visual arts, and music. It was believed that the earlier Sturm und Drang movement was a precursor to the Romantic movement.

Sturm und Drang was a German movement, meaning “Storm and Stress”, active during the latter half of the 1700s. The importance of this movement was the emphasis on emotion and self-expression, and it is commonly described as “subjective”. 

It was most prevalent in music and literature and received its name from the Sturm und Drang (1777) play by Friedrich Maximillian Klinger. Additionally, the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a leading proponent of the movement and became widely known for his publication The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774).

This novel greatly influenced Romanticism, which developed afterward. Romanticism was also categorized as more emotive and subjective and moved away from the intellectualism that came from preceding movements like Neoclassicism during the mid-1700s.

It is important to note that Romanticism developed across European countries like France, Germany, England, and Spain. For the purposes of our article, we will focus on German Romanticism, providing a context for Caspar David Friedrich’s artworks.

In the spirit of freedom, German Romanticism sought self-expression that celebrated the majesty of nature, and landscape art became a conduit for this expression. Furthermore, it was not solely the depiction of nature, but the deep bond between man and nature, veering on the subliminal.

The Man and His Outfit: Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog Meaning

The question, “When was Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog made?” is an important one to explore, as we have done briefly above. However, its date points to pertinent periods in history that influenced its meaning, such as the Napoleonic Wars, the impacts of the French insurgency in Germany, and the socio-political aspects that ensued as a result of these. 

The figure in “Der Wanderer Über Dem Nebelmeer”, according to some art history sources, could have been Caspar David Friedrich himself, based on the red hair color.

Other scholars, like Joseph Koerner, believe the man could have been Colonel Friedrich Gotthard von Brincken and that this painting was a sort of “patriotic epitaph” created for him after his death. This touches on Friedrich’s preoccupation with the political climate during the early 19th-century, and that he was a German Nationalist, hinted at by the figure’s outfit, which is reminiscent of what is referred to as Altdeutsche Tracht , meaning “’ Old German costume”.

These outfits were commonly worn by Germans during this period as statements against the Napoleonic Wars, which were prevalent in Europe from 1799 to around 1815. This costume, in short, symbolized a sense of nationalism against the invading French.

Formal Analysis: A Brief Compositional Overview

Below we will discuss a formal analysis of Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich, first describing the painting and its subject matter and then the artist’s style in terms of several art elements like color, texture, line, form, and space, among others, and how they impact and determine the overall artistic unity of the composition.  

Visual Description: Subject Matter

In the first third and foreground of the painting Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, we see a solitary figure standing on the edge of a protruding rock formation. He looks out over a vast, foggy, landscape of what appears to be a mountainous region in the far distance, in the background of the composition.

An interesting fact about this landscape is that Friedrich reportedly depicted the Elbe Sandstone Mountain region. This mountain range is between Saxony in Germany and Bohemia in the Czech Republic.

Furthermore, Friedrich apparently made sketches of the mountain ranges while he was there in person and repainted certain ranges from his visual documentation. Therefore, it is possibly not the exact depiction of the mountain ranges and their placements. The man stands with his back to us, the viewers, which is a common technique, otherwise referred to as “compositional strategy/device”, that Caspar David Friedrich utilized to depict his figures.

This technique is known as Rückenfigur , which is the German word for “figure from the back”. It is also evident in some of Friedrich’s other paintings, for example, The Monk by the Sea (1808 – 1810), Two Men by the Sea (1817), and Woman at a Window (1822).

In the middle-ground, there are more rocky ridges protruding through their misty veil, right in front of this lonely wanderer. Some of the rocky tops also have trees on them and we can notice what appears to be a canopy of trees also peeping through the misty veil.    

The upper third of the composition is composed of the sky above, filled with white clouds that seemingly become part of the mist that covers the mountains in the distance, blanketing the rest of the scenery in the foreground. There is almost a sense of motion and aliveness here as the mist moves inwards and outwards.

If we look at the man, he is wearing an overcoat that has been described as dark green in color. His red hair is short and appears windblown. He is holding a walking stick in his right hand and his left hand seems to be resting on the upper part of his left leg, which is slightly bent and propped up on the rocky promontory, stabilizing his posture as he stands; his right leg is straight.

Color, Value, and Light

If we look at artistic elements like color and value, Friedrich utilized whites, pinks, and blues for the sky above and darker colors for the rocks in the foreground as well as dark green for the man’s coat. The painting’s value consists of a notable contrast between light and dark in this composition.

The foreground is dark, and the background is light. Value is an art element that refers to how light or dark a color appears and is often demonstrated on a grayscale. It also adds highlights to an image, which gives it more color harmony .

In “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog”, we see there is a darker area of color in the foreground, we can say about a third of the composition, and the background, or two-thirds of the rest of the composition, appears lighter.

Furthermore, there is an implied, natural, light source from the sun, although we cannot directly see it because of the mist and clouds.  The man is facing this light, which creates a contrasting effect from the way the light falls.

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog is filled with a texture that sets this landscape scene. The best examples include the way Friedrich painted the mist and clouds, which appear like white wisps throughout the upper two-thirds of the composition.

There is an implied texture of lightness, air, and fleetingness here, furthermore, creating a rhythm and movement to the scene.

Additionally, Friedrich also created an implied texture in all the rocky regions, for example, the rocks in the foreground on which the man stands. These have a rougher and craggy texture compared to the mist and fog, which creates another contrasting effect.

Line, Form, and Shape

There is a focus on vertical lines in this composition, notably the figure standing upright and looking out over the horizon. This is a clear shape in our view compared to the other shapes in the distance formed by the fog and mountains.

These shapes are less distinct and appear hazier, further highlighting the man in the foreground.

In the middle ground, there are two horizontal lines created by the surrounding mist and hillside landscape. These appear to converge in the center, almost creating a focal point in the distance and seemingly bringing our focus onto the man in the foreground.

Space 

Space is an important aspect of this composition. Friedrich depicted a vast landscape, achieved through highlighting, contrasting, and converging colors, textures, and various lines and shapes. These all create the illusion of three-dimensional landscape space, or depth, we see in front of us.

This depth is further created by what is known as “ atmospheric perspective ”, which is the hazy effect of the landscape in the distance, as well as the scale implied by the figure in the foreground compared to the background.

Space as an art element also includes positive and negative space. Positive space is created by the subject of the composition, and here it would be the figure and the rocky areas in the foreground. Negative space includes the space around the primary subject, which would be the mist and clouds.

In the Presence and Precipice of Greatness

The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog is over 200 years old, still impacting modern-day viewers, reminding us of age-old truths that seemingly go beyond being human. Even in our contemporary times, this painting has made its way into popular culture, inspiring film posters, adorning book covers, and becoming a popular motif on items like T-shirts.

Friedrich’s artworks even became tokens of appreciation and propaganda for the German Adolf Hitler. This association marred Friedrich’s reputation as an artist, however, his reputation was eventually restored within the art world.

“Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich depicts a man face-to-face with the vastness of nature, and ultimately, God. He is truly in the presence of greatness, and as we look at him looking at the landscape, even possibly contemplating his life and nature, we are similarly face-to-face with this landscape, contemplating our own place in this magnitude. We too, stand on the precipice of greatness.

Take a look at our  Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog  webstory here!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who painted wanderer above the sea of fog .

The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (c. 1818), also titled Der Wanderer Über Dem Nebelmeer , was painted by the German artist Caspar David Friedrich. It became one of the most popular German Romanticism paintings.

When Was Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog Made?

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich is dated 1818, which was during European art history when art styles shifted from Neoclassicism to Romanticism. This painting, also called Der Wanderer Über Dem Nebelmeer , has been categorized as German Romanticism.

Where Is Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog ?

The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (c. 1818) is housed at the Kunsthalle art gallery in Hamburg, Germany. It was received by the gallery and made part of the collection around 1970.

Alicia du Plessis is a multidisciplinary writer. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Art History and Classical Civilization, as well as two Honors, namely, in Art History and Education and Development, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. For her main Honors project in Art History, she explored perceptions of the San Bushmen’s identity and the concept of the “Other”. She has also looked at the use of photography in art and how it has been used to portray people’s lives.

Alicia’s other areas of interest in Art History include the process of writing about Art History and how to analyze paintings. Some of her favorite art movements include Impressionism and German Expressionism. She is yet to complete her Masters in Art History (she would like to do this abroad in Europe) having given it some time to first develop more professional experience with the interest to one day lecture it too.

Alicia has been working for artincontext.com since 2021 as an author and art history expert. She has specialized in painting analysis and is covering most of our painting analysis.

Learn more about Alicia du Plessis and the Art in Context Team .

Cite this Article

Alicia, du Plessis, ““Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich.” Art in Context. May 22, 2022. URL: https://artincontext.org/wanderer-above-the-sea-of-fog-by-caspar-david-friedrich/

du Plessis, A. (2022, 22 May). “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich. Art in Context. https://artincontext.org/wanderer-above-the-sea-of-fog-by-caspar-david-friedrich/

du Plessis, Alicia. ““Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” by Caspar David Friedrich.” Art in Context , May 22, 2022. https://artincontext.org/wanderer-above-the-sea-of-fog-by-caspar-david-friedrich/ .

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The Most Famous Artists and Artworks

Discover the most famous artists, paintings, sculptors…in all of history! 

MOST FAMOUS ARTISTS AND ARTWORKS

Discover the most famous artists, paintings, sculptors!

The wanderer above the sea of fog

The wanderer above the sea of fog is a Romantic   Oil on Canvas   Painting created by Caspar David Friedrich in 1818 . It lives at the Kunsthalle Hamburg in Germany . The image is in the Public Domain , and tagged Seascapes . Download See The wanderer above the sea of fog in the Kaleidoscope

Where is the Wanderer?

Friedrich described his approach to landscape painting saying “The artist should paint not only what he has in front of him but also what he sees inside himself.” Friedrich brought this practice to the Wanderer, splicing together a variety of landscapes from the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in Saxony, that he'd previously sketched in person. The distant mountain peak to the left of the figure resembles either the Kaltenberg peak in Austria or the Růžovský vrch, the Rosenberg mountain. Below the mountain a fingered rock craig looks like the million-year-old Bastei rock formation. The strange, vertical pillar in the far distance to the right of the figure is based on the Zirkelstein, a table hill topped by a 130ft tall sandstone rock on the border between Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Below the Zirkelstein is the Gamrig, a rock formation that overlooks the village of Waltersdorf. Even the rocks the titular wanderer stands on was pulled from nature. The boulder’s dramatic silhouette inspired by the jagged sandstones atop the Kaiserkrone , or “imperial crown” another table hill near the Zirkelstein.

Reed Enger, "The wanderer above the sea of fog," in Obelisk Art History , Published May 11, 2016; last modified November 06, 2022, http://www.arthistoryproject.com/artists/caspar-david-friedrich/the-wanderer-above-the-sea-of-fog/.

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Caspar David Friedrich

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Two Men Contemplating the Moon c.1819

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

• Winter Landscape With Church
• Landscape with Grave Coffin and Owl

• Date of Creation:
• Alternative Names:
• Wanderer Above the Mist, Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer
• Height (cm):
• Length (cm):
• Art Movement:
• Romanticism
• Created by:
• Current Location:
• Hamburg, Germany
• Displayed at:
• Hamburger Kunsthalle
• Wanderer above the Sea of Fog Page's Content
• Story / Theme
• Related Paintings
• Bibliography

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog Story / Theme

Elbsandsteingebirge, Germany

Some believe Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog to be a self portrait of Friedrich. The young figure standing in contemplation has the same fiery red hair as the artist. The figure stands in contemplation and self reflection, mesmerized by the haze of the sea fog as if it were a religious and spiritual experience. He wonders in that moment about the unforeseen future. By placing his back toward the viewer he is not shutting them out - rather he enables them to see the world through his own eyes, to share and convey his personal experience. Though some believe this to be a self-portrait tradition recounts that the figure in Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog is a particular person, a high-ranking forestry officer, Col. Friedrich Gotthard von Brincken, of the Saxon infantry. He wears the green uniform of the volunteer rangers, those called into service against Napoleon by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia. As this man was most likely killed in 1813 or 1814, this painting may also serve as a patriotic tribute. Though Friedrich painted this scene in his studio, he sketched it at the place of inspiration, Elbsandsteingebirge, in Saxony and Bohemia. He was always greatly inspired by German landscape and deeply moved of the beauty he found in his homeland. He depicts the mountains, the trees, and the heavy mist above the sea.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog Analysis

Friedrich executes a unique composition and employs his famous technique in Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. His use of color and lighting is also notable. Composition: Friedrich chose to paint this landscape vertically instead of the much seen horizontal orientation. The upright position of the canvas models the uprightness of the figure in the painting. Use of technique: Once again Friedrich employs the Ruckenfugen technique in which he paints the figure with his back towards the viewer. This makes the figure something of a mystery to the viewer - they are unsure what he is thinking or his reaction to the landscape that they too are taking in. By separating the figure and the viewer, the latter focuses more on the beauty of the surroundings rather than the man's role in nature. Color palette: For this composition Friedrich uses a slightly brighter palette than usual. He mixes blues and pinks across the sky with the mountain and rock in the distance echoing these colors. He paints the figure in a dark green coat - typical German attire. Use of light: The light seems to be coming up from beneath the rock, somehow illuminating the fog. The rock the mysterious figure stands on remains mostly in silhouette form, though some detail is visible at the top near the figures' feet. Tone elicited: As the viewer cannot see the figure's face, the tone is questionable. In line with Friedrich's other works, and the overall Romantic ideal, it seems fitting to believe that this wanderer stands in awe of the spooky nature before him. His poise is one of a confident man, he leans on his cane, and a relaxed hand rests in his pocket.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog Related Paintings

The Lonely Ones, Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch, The Lonely Ones, 1899: Friedrich influenced only a few artists that followed him. Among his admirers was Symbolist painter Edvard Munch whose work has been explicitly related to Friedrich's. Munch could identify with Friedrich's representative landscapes and in this work a clear reference is seen to Friedrich's Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon . Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893: This is another landscape reference that occurs with Friedrich's Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. Both paintings illustrate the "halted traveler" where the solitary figure experiences an epiphany in the middle of nature. Both artists rejected the traditional horizontal orientation of most landscapes and instead employ a vertical orientation, showing the upright presence of the character. The major differences between the two paintings is that Friedrich's figure, Rückenfigur, keeps his back turned on the viewer while Munch's figure confronts the viewer directly. The viewer then engages with the figure and less attention is paid to the landscape, an ideal crucial to the Romantic artists. Munch also displays a hostile landscape, showing the opposite of the Romantics' linking of humankind and God through nature.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog Artist

Friedrich very rarely included people in his landscape paintings. He painted Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog just around the time more figures started appearing in his work. Some historians believe it is because he got married right around this time, which may have invoked some newfound appreciation for human life and human relations. Like the majority of his work, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog was not fully appreciated during its day. It wasn't until after his death that Wanderer gained significant attention. This is because Friedrich was, for the most part, misunderstood in his time. As an artist, he struggled to gain full comprehension from the public and critics of his time, but he continued to paint according to his own artistic convictions, not for approval. He experienced a significant amount of success during his high days, even being commissioned by the Russian royal family. Thanks to his intense and emotional focus on nature, Friedrich changed the style of landscapes and became a key member of the Romantic Movement. Friedrich helped shaped the movement while in its fledging stage, his personal ideals matching up perfectly with the new art form. Neoclassical artists focused on properly accounting history through close attention to detail while Romantic artists flirted with themes of man's part in nature, divinity found in nature, and emotion. Although many critics are still unable to comprehend Friedrich's allegorical references to Christ and God through landscape, today his work is generally well respected.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog Art Period

Unlike most artists, Caspar David Friedrich took less inspiration for the great masters of art before him and paid more attention to the teachers of his formal education. Consequently, Friedrich had a truly unique style; he could transform landscapes from a mere forest to a wooded wonderland where each branch symbolized something greater, something deeper. The trees were no longer just trees, but beautiful wooden creatures that represented the unwavering strength of Christ. The rays of the sun didn't just serve to illuminate the ground but to show the light of the Holy Father. Romanticism was an art period lasting approximately form the early 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. Romantic artists flirted with themes of man's self glorification, man's part in nature, divinity found in nature, and emotion. Caspar David Friedrich fits in ideally with the characteristics of Romanticism as he displayed individualism, subjectivity, spirituality and the love of nature. Unfortunately, reception of Friedrich's work deteriorated as he aged. Eventually even his patrons lost interest in his work as Romanticism was being replaced with new, modern ideals. Friedrich died while his art was no longer wanted. Critics thought it too personal to understand, completely disregarding the fact that that was what made the work so original in the first place. However, Symbolist and Surrealist artists, such as Max Ernst, took note of the allegorical meanings that saturated Friedrich's canvases and both groups came to reference Friedrich as a great source of inspiration and foundation for their perspective movements.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog Bibliography

To find out more about Friedrich's contribution to Romanticism please choose from the following recommended sources. • Barber, John. The Road from Eden: Studies in Christianity and Culture. Academica Press, LLC, 2006 • Bèorsch-Supan, Helmut. Caspar David Friedrich. Thames & Hudson, 1974 • Boime, Albert. Art in an Age of Counterrevolution, 1815-1848. University of Chicago Press, 2004 • Hoffman, Werner. Caspar David Friedrich. Thames & Hudson, 2001 • Jensen, Jens Christian. Caspar David Friedrich: life and work. Barron's, 1981 • Koerner, Joseph Leo. Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape. Yale University Press, 1990 • Wintle, Justine. Makers of Nineteen Century Culture: 1800-1914. Routledge, 2002 • Wolf, Norbert. Caspar David Friedrich: 1774-1840: The Painter of Stillness. Taschen, 2003

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

• Caspar David Friedrich

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Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, or Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer , to give it it's original German title, is the most famous painting from the career of German Romanticist painter, Caspar David Friedrich. It was finished in 1818 and now resides at the Kunsthalle Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany.

"...Close your physical eye, so that you may see your picture first with the spiritual eye. Then bring what you saw in the dark into the light, so that it may have an effect on others, shining inwards from outside..."

The style of this painting is instantly recognisable as the work of Friedrich, with a foreground figure superimposed against a stunning landscape scene. This style of composition helps the viewer to feel very much a part of the painting which was one of the strengths of this famous German painter. Landscape scenes of Germany continued throughout his career but not always with a figure in the foreground, despite that though, it remains very much a signature of his career. It is common for artists to become famous for just one artwork, despite having produced so much during their lifetime and Friedrich can be considered inseparable to Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. It has also been promoted to be considered one of the finest contributions to the entire Romanticist movement.

In this memorable artwork there is a flurry of mist that drifts across the landscape as the key figure stands tall, looking down on this mountainous setting. He is smartly dressed, suggesting he holds a powerful position but the way in which his back is turned to the viewer, and that we cannot see his face, leaves a mysterious element to this painting. Who is he? What is he doing? The viewer is left to debate what appears before their eyes. We have included a larger image of the painting at the bottom of this page so that you can appreciate even more of the detail added by artist Friedrich.

The figure in this scene is dressed in a smart overcoat, coloured dark green (you may not be able to make out this colour in the photograph), and holds a brown walking stick in his right hand. This suggests age and experience, but he holds it at an angle which oozes strength and confidence. His hair is untidy, suggesting that the wind has unsettled an otherwise groomed individual. He cares not, for his focus is entirely taken by the mass of fog that sweeps across the landscape in front of him. The rocks on which he stands are darkened, allowing the rest of the scene to drift into the correct perspective, with a greater brightness. It also helps to focus the eye on the gentleman in the foreground. He also wears a shirt below his coat and also solid boots which give a picture of comfort and confidence within these challenging conditions.

Artist Friedrich separates the scene into three or four sections, altering the level of brightness on each one in order to build this sense of perspective. Beyond the initial foreground where the dark figure stands in awe, there is then immediately in front of him another section of rock with trees that dots out from above the clouds. There is some vegetation, but generally the scene is of a relatively barren environment, deep into the tall mountains. This section dots jutting shapes vertically up to the sky right across the canvas. Most is partially covered by fog, but a few rocks of the left hand side can be seen without any impediment.

Perhaps due to the perils of translations, this German painting is sometimes given different names in English, beyond the generally accepted name of Wanderer above the Sea of Fog which we have defaulted to. Others have referred to this piece as Wanderer above the Mist or Mountaineer in a Misty Landscape. Whatever the disagreement, the image itself remains the artist's signature artwork and also a key highlight in the achievements of the European Romanticist movement. Other notable members of the group included the likes of Eugene Delacroix, who gifted us the likes of Liberty Leading the People , Death of Sardanapalus and Christ on the Sea of Galilee , as well as British landscape painter JMW Turner who is most famous for The Fighting Temeraire .

Whilst being a major highlight in the collection of the Kunsthalle Hamburg in Germany, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog stands alongside several highly significant paintings including the likes of Madonna by Edvard Munch , Jacob Restaurant by Max Liebermann, Revolution of the Viaduct by Paul Klee , Phryne before the Areopagus by Jean-Léon Gerome and Nana by Edouard Manet . You will also find contributions from the Old Masters, such as Francisco de Goya, Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.

Article Author

Tom Gurney in an art history expert. He received a BSc (Hons) degree from Salford University, UK, and has also studied famous artists and art movements for over 20 years. Tom has also published a number of books related to art history and continues to contribute to a number of different art websites. You can read more on Tom Gurney here.

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Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (1818) Is a Romantic Masterpiece, Evoking the Power of the Sublime">Why Caspar David Friedrich’s Painting Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog (1818) Is a Romantic Masterpiece, Evoking the Power of the Sublime

in Art , History | January 8th, 2024 4 Comments

When Cas­par David Friedrich com­plet­ed Der Wan­der­er über dem Nebelmeer , or Wan­der­er Above the Sea of Fog , in 1818, it “was not well received.” So says gal­lerist-Youtu­ber James Payne in his new Great Art Explained video above , which focus­es on Friedrich’s most famous paint­ing. In the artist’s life­time, the Wan­der­er in fact “marked the grad­ual decline of Friedrich’s for­tunes.” He with­drew from soci­ety, and in 1835, “he suf­fered a stroke that left the left side of his body effec­tive­ly par­a­lyzed, effec­tive­ly end­ing his career.” How, over the cen­turies since, did this once-ill-fat­ed paint­ing become so icon­ic that many of us now see it ref­er­enced every few weeks?

Friedrich had known pop­u­lar and crit­i­cal scorn before. His first major com­mis­sion, paint­ed in 1808, was “an altar­piece which shows a cross in pro­file at the top of a moun­tain, alone and sur­round­ed by pine trees. Hard for us to under­stand now, but it caused a huge scan­dal.” This owed in part to the lack of tra­di­tion­al per­spec­tive in its com­po­si­tion, which pre­saged the feel­ing of bound­less­ness — over­laid with “rolling mists and fogs” — that would char­ac­ter­ize his lat­er work. But more to the point, “land­scape had nev­er been con­sid­ered a suit­able genre for overt­ly reli­gious themes. And of course, nor­mal­ly the cru­ci­fix­ion is shown as a human nar­ra­tive pop­u­lat­ed by human fig­ures, not Christ dying alone.”

It’s fair to say that Friedrich did not do things nor­mal­ly, both philo­soph­i­cal­ly — break­ing away, with his fel­low Roman­ti­cists, from the mech­a­nis­tic Enlight­en­ment con­sen­sus about the world — and aes­thet­i­cal­ly. The Wan­der­er ( fur­ther ana­lyzed in the Nerd­writer video just below ) presents a Weltan­schau­ung in which “land­scape was a rep­re­sen­ta­tion of a divine world order, and man was an indi­vid­ual who watch­es, con­tem­plates, and feels much more than he cal­cu­lates and thinks.” To achieve his desired effect, Friedrich assem­bles an imag­ined vista out of var­i­ous ele­ments seen around Dres­den, pre­sent­ing it in a man­ner that com­bines char­ac­ter­is­tics of both land­scapes and por­traits to “cre­ate a pow­er­ful sense of space” while direct­ing our atten­tion to the lone uniden­ti­fied fig­ure right in the cen­ter.

The “curi­ous com­bi­na­tion of lone­li­ness and empow­er­ment” that results is key to under­stand­ing not just the pri­or­i­ties of the Roman­tics , but the very nature of the aes­thet­ic sub­lime they rev­er­ent­ly expressed. To be sub­lime is not just to be beau­ti­ful or plea­sur­able, but also to exude a kind of intim­i­dat­ing, even fear­some vast­ness; how it feels to enter the pres­ence of the sub­lime can nev­er be ful­ly repli­cat­ed, let alone explained, but as Friedrich demon­strates, it can effec­tive­ly be evoked. Hence, as Payne points out, the ten­den­cy of cur­rent media like movie posters to crib from the Wan­der­er , in ser­vice of the likes of Dunkirk , Obliv­ion , Into Dark­ness , and After Earth . Deter­min­ing whether those pic­tures live up to the ambi­tions evi­dent in Friedrich’s artis­tic lega­cy is an exer­cise left to the read­er.

Relat­ed con­tent:

An Intro­duc­tion to the Paint­ing of Cas­par David Friedrich, Roman­ti­cism & the Sub­lime

The Oth­er­world­ly Art of William Blake: An Intro­duc­tion to the Vision­ary Poet and Painter

How the Avant-Garde Art of Gus­tav Klimt Got Per­verse­ly Appro­pri­at­ed by the Nazis

Bri­an Eno on Cre­at­ing Music and Art As Imag­i­nary Land­scapes (1989)

Great Art Explained: Watch 15 Minute Intro­duc­tions to Great Works by Warhol, Rothko, Kahlo, Picas­so & More

Based in Seoul,  Col­in M a rshall  writes and broad­cas ts on cities, lan­guage, and cul­ture. His projects include the Sub­stack newslet­ter   Books on Cities ,  the book  The State­less City: a Walk through 21st-Cen­tu­ry Los Ange­les  and the video series  The City in Cin­e­ma . Fol­low him on Twit­ter at  @colinm a rshall  or on  Face­book .

by Colin Marshall | Permalink | Comments (4) |

Related posts:

Comments (4), 4 comments so far.

Stew­art Lee’s rumi­na­tion on the Wan­der­er

https://youtu.be/Dz9Nad0bxDU?si=9GAMR530KEQHrOjP

I’m inter­est­ed

Thank you for this very infor­ma­tive video. Casper David Friedrich’s work is intrigu­ing. With as much thought as he gave to his paint­ings, if he would have jour­naled, it may have answered many ques­tions. One won­ders how an artist’s mind in work­ing as he paints. Again, thank you for illu­mi­nat­ing video. A new, old artist to pon­der.

Vis­it­ed the Friedrich exhib­it at the Ham­burg muse­um last week and was so in awe of this amaz­ing work. This helps me under­stand the artist and his time. Thank you for the edu­ca­tion!

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Created by  Jacob Gibson on  Mon, 03/15/2021 - 18:40

Description: 

Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog , by Caspar David Friedrich depicts a man standing on a rocky cliff face looking out over a landscape obscured by fog. It was painted in 1818 and is representative of Romantic era artwork. When we examine the painting, the middle third is dominated by the Wanderer and the rocks he stands upon, with the adjacent two thirds devoted to the obscured landscape. We've talked about concepts of space in class, and it's significant that so much space in this painting is devoted as equally to an obscure landscape as it is to the Wanderer if not more so. And yet there is a definite sensation we get while looking at this painting that draws the eye and is a sensation we can almost feel in our bones.

The artist puts this into words by saying "A picture must not be invented, it must be felt" (Prodger 90).  Friedrich was known for his depiction of landscapes, and this could very well be inspired by or be a real depiction of one. But the artist says that isn't the point. Critics say that we should look at his landscapes not as "decipherable symbols but as carriers of sensation" (90), and that Friedrich didn't want to just faithfully reflect the landscape, "but rather to reflect his soul" (90). This approach to art is definitely reflective of the Romantic era in that so many of the ideas we get from them are so self conscious and self reflective, often using nature as a catalyst for that introspection. We can see evidence of this in the painting because the landscape itself is obscured by fog, while the man isn't. We see only his back, and the viewer gets the impression that for such a thoughtful pose coming from this Wanderer, that contemplation is taking place, but perhaps not merely that over the wonder of the details of the view. " It appears, thus, that Friedrich sought not merely to explore the blissful enjoyment of a beautiful view but rather to have an encounter with the spiritual Self through the contemplation of nature (Gaete 61). 

While researching this painting, I kept thinking about "The Thorn" by William Wordsworth. In that poem, Wordsworth uses a focused point of view to establish the landscape around the thorn, before slowly zooming out, giving us more and more details until we can see how human and emotional this all is. It's an exploration of a genuine human experience (albeit a painful one), depicted through the lens of a landscape. I argue that Friedrich is doing something similar here with point of view in this painting. The way that the landscape is depicted here makes sure that the viewer will see how human this painting is. BUT, I don't believe this would happen if Friedrich wasn't able to make good on his desire to depict a sensation rather than a landscape. 

The research about this painting wouldn't be complete without some mention of the idea of the sublime in Romantic era poetry and art. This aspect of Romantic era art is deeply connected to nature and how its beauty and treachery can force a perspective change in those who truly experience it. Equal parts agony and ecstasy. This painting surely depicts that feeling of the sublime and its connection to nature in the sensation of the treacherous cliffside the Wanderer stands upon. As someone with a fear of heights, I wonder if other people feel the way I do when I really look at this painting, because I really do feel a slight tingling of fear while looking at this painting when I put myself in as the Wanderer. Yet there is undoubtedly a feeling of wonder over the landscape below, one that I seem to feel even to my bones. I definitely understand now why this painting has become so symbolic of the Romantic era, as it seems to capture so many of the elements of it in a relatively simple painting.

Works Cited: Gaete, Miguel Angel. “From Caspar David Friedrich’s Wanderer above the Sea of Fog to the ICloud: A Comparative Analysis between the Romantic Concept of the Sublime and Cyberspace.”  Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics , vol. 43, no. 2, June 2020, p. 59.  EBSCOhost , search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgac&AN=edsgac.A643530332&site=eds-live.

Prodger, Michael. “A Solitude Shared: How Caspar David Friedrich Searched the German Landscape for Reflections of His Soul.”  New Statesman , vol. 149, no. 5530–5533, July 2020, p. 90.  EBSCOhost , search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsglr&AN=edsglr.A632298532&site=eds-live.

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Behind the Art: Why is Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich considered one of the masterpieces of the Romantic movement?

Behind the art: the iconic painting wanderer above the sea of fog was created in 1818 by german romantic artist caspar david friedrich. probably worth millions, it shows a man standing with his back to the viewer on a rocky cliff edge. why is this painting considered one of the masterpieces of the romantic movement.

The iconic painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog was created in 1818 by German romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich. Probably worth millions, it shows a man standing with his back to the viewer on a rocky cliff edge. He is looking out at a landscape that is covered in a thick sea of fog that cuts through other ridges, trees, and mountains and goes on forever. It has been regarded as one of the Romantic movement’s greatest works and one of its most illustrative masterpieces. It is unknown where the artwork came from after it was created; however, by 1939, it was in the gallery of Wilhelm August Luz in Berlin, Germany. In 1970, the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Germany, bought it, and it has been there ever since. But why is it considered a masterpiece and what the is story behind it?

What is the painting about?

What attracts viewers is the visual appeal of the painting . A man stands with his back to the viewer on a rocky precipice in the foreground. He is wearing a dark green overcoat and holding a walking stick in his right hand. The wanderer is looking out over a landscape that is covered in a thick sea of fog, his hair blowing in the wind. The painting is made up of various elements from the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in Saxony and Bohemia. Friedrich sketched them out in the field, but he rearranged them in the same way he usually does in the studio for the painting. As a result, it may not accurately depict the mountain ranges and their locations. Caspar David Friedrich often depicted his figures in this manner, which he referred to as a “compositional strategy/device.” The man stands with his back to the audience and the German word for “figure from the back” is Rückenfigur, which refers to this unique method.

Why did Friedrich paint the Wanderer above the sea of fog?

Friedrich’s paintings are dominated by the sublime power of nature. His personal history may also account for the ominous tension between beauty and terror in his depiction of nature, which was influenced by the landscapes of his native Germany. When he was young, he and his brother were skating on the frozen Baltic Sea when the ice cracked. Caspar fell, and his brother saved his life. It is said that this incident stayed with Friedrich for life and due to his depression, he attempted suicide in Dresden. He always wore a beard to cover the wound from his attempt to cut himself. Friedrich’s statement, “The painter should paint not only what he has in front of him, but also what he sees inside himself,” demonstrates the connection between inspiration and trauma.

It’s possible that Friedrich’s work, Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog, which he created the year he got married, is about his struggle to control his strong emotions for the sake of his young bride. Based on Caspar David Friedrich’s red hair colour, some art history sources suggest that the figure in this painting was the artist himself. Whereas, some historians claim that the man could be Colonel Friedrich Gotthard von Brincken and that this painting was made as a kind of “patriotic epitaph” for him after he died. This hints at Friedrich’s interest in politics in the early 19th century and suggests that he was a German Nationalist.

Romanticism and the legacy of the painting

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is considered a masterpiece of the Romantic movement which is a broad artistic and literary movement that emerged after the Age of Enlightenment. The Romantic movement was a European intellectual, artistic, literary, and musical movement that began toward the end of the 18th century. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism, paganism, idealization of nature, distrust of science and industrialization. And this was what Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” captures. It shows a man confronting the vastness of nature and ultimately God. He is truly in the presence of greatness, and as we look at him as he looks out over the landscape and maybe even thinks about his life and the natural world. However, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog and Friedrich’s work, in general, were not immediately regarded as masterpieces, despite Friedrich’s respect in German and Russian circles. In the early 20th century, specifically in the 1970s, Friedrich’s reputation improved. Wanderer attracted a lot of attention: used as a source of inspiration for numerous works since and is not just well-known among art historians.

The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog is more than 200 years old and still has an impact on viewers today, reminding us of age-old truths that appear to go beyond being human. In fact, critics claim that the subject looking upon a canvas of open possibility, ready to make a choice and find what awaits him, appeals to modern viewers. The Wanderer has appeared on the cover of numerous books, T-shirts, CDs, and coffee mugs. Friedrich’s paintings were even used as propaganda and tokens of appreciation for the German Adolf Hitler. Friedrich’s reputation as an artist was tarnished by this association, but the art world eventually restore it and make it one of the most talked about paintings in history.

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Wanderer above the Sea Fog by Friedrich – Top 8 Facts

By: Author Trace Bradley

Posted on Published: February 28, 2022

If we have to pick one painting that defines the Romantic art movement, then this Romantic painting would be it.

Romantic artists in the first decade of the 19th century put a high emphasis on individuality and conveying personal emotion. This painting by one of the most famous German artists in history embodies this perfectly.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the most interesting facts about Wanderer above the Sea Fog by Caspar David Friedrich , a masterpiece by the artist for several reasons.

1. It was painted in the second decade of the 19th century

Wanderer above the Sea Fog is the most famous painting in the oeuvre of Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), the leading German artist of his time. He was born a year earlier than J.M.W. Turner (1775-1841), the English painter who specialized in landscapes and maritime paintings.

The fascinating fact about this notion is that both artists elevated landscape painting into the new Romantic era around the same time. It took a bit longer for Friedrich to reach the same level of recognition as he only received his first major commissions around 1808, shortly settling in Dresden.

He completed this painting in 1818, the same year that he got married and at a time when his career was taking off.

2. It depicts a man standing on top of a mountain peak

The German name of the painting is “Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” and it’s also known in English as “Wanderer above the Mist or “Mountaineer in a Misty Landscape.”

These titles pretty much explain what is depicted. We can see a mountaineer who is facing the viewer with his back while contemplating the scenery.

Mountain peaks are sticking out of the foggy landscape. Some of the peaks feature trees and a large mountain range can be seen emerging in the top left corner. The fog stretches out indefinitely and eventually merges with the horizon in the top right corner.

3. The painting embodies the spirit of the Romantic art movement

Wanderer above the Sea Fog is not just considered to be a masterpiece in its own right, but also the most famous painting representing the Romantic movement. That’s mainly because it embodies what the movement was about.

Romanticism was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the rationality of the Age of Enlightenment. It forced people to look inside themselves and see raw emotions.

In that sense, this painting is considered to be the epitome of self-reflection. You have to imagine what the depicted man thinks because we can’t see his face, only the fact that he is gazing upon this hazy landscape.

This forces you to somehow step into his shoes to feel what he might be feeling.

4. Some depicted mountains can be recognized

Friedrich moved to Dresden in the year 1798 after completing his studies at the prestigious Academy of Copenhagen. This is a major city in the eastern part of Germany, not too far from the modern-day border with the Czech Republic.

The painting depicts distinctive peaks in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, a mountain range that straddles the border of both countries. This range is situated in both the German state of Saxony and the Czech region of North Bohemia and not too far southeast of Dresden.

Friedrich used several mountain peaks and rearranged them to fit into the overall composition. These are:

• The Zirkelstein is in the top right corner.
• Either the Rosenberg or the Kaltenberg is in the top left corner.
• In the foreground, we can see a group of mountains called the Gamrig near the town of Rathen.
• The mountain on which the man stands is a group of mountains called the Kaiserkrone.

5. The painting had a positive influence on mountaineering

Mountaineering as we know it today was still in its infancy at the time that Friedrich completed this defining painting in the history of art.

We can see the man majestically standing on top of the mountain peak. This image wasn’t just important in the development of the Romantic art movement but also in the history of mountaineering.

It conveys a sense of power that comes along with conquering a mountain. It has been described as “an archetypical image of the mountain-climbing visionary.”

It was the start of associating climbing a mountain with something that should be admired, a notion that didn’t exist before.

6. Caspar David Friedrich made a famous comment about this painting

Caspar David Friedrich commented on his masterpiece by saying the following:

The artist should paint not only what he has in front of him but also what he sees inside himself.

This defines Romanticism and led the way for Romantic artists to paint works that aimed to move people rather than solely depict what is there.

This eventually fell out of favor with the rise of Realism artists halfway through the 19th century. Although Friedrich’s works were devalued because of this and he died in obscurity, his works inspired many artists of future generations, including Surrealists and Expressionists .

7. How big is Wanderer above the Sea Fog by Caspar David Friedrich?

Over 2 dozen of books have been published featuring Wanderer above the Sea Fog on their covers. These books were written in a wide variety of genres, ranging from Romantic novels to horror stories.

The popularity of the painting is associated with the sense of emotion that it conveys which can be pretty much everything. This doesn’t mean, however, it was painted at a monumental scale.

The oil on canvas painting has dimensions of 94.8 × 74.8 centimeters (37.3 × 29.4 inches) .

8. Where is the painting located today?

The painting is one of the main attractions of the Hamburger Kunsthalle , a large art museum in the German city of Hamburg in the northern part of the country.

The museum in Hamburg consists of 3 interconnected buildings in the historic heart of the city that were built at different times in history.

These are the main building (1869), the Kuppelsaal (1921), and the Galerie der Gegenwart (1997).

Friedrich’s work can be found in a gallery dedicated to artists of the 19th century and also houses another one of his famous works called “The Sea of Ice” (1824).

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich

What is the meaning behind the painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich?

• Rumination and romance
• Exultation in one man’s insignificance
• A mysterious mist sets a sublime scene

Click here for the podcast version of this post.

A man’s back becomes much more in Wanderer above the Sea of Fog . Like many of Caspar David Friedrich’s works, it combines landscape and portrait. But this one’s his masterpiece. In fact, many art historians consider it the defining work of the Romantic art movement. I agree. This painting distinguishes itself among Friedrich’s other landscape portraits in many ways.

Interplay between figure and setting reveal the most powerful part of this piece. In many Friedrich paintings the figure plays a minimal role. He tended to emphasize landscapes. But in Wanderer above the Sea of Fog we discover a sense of sublime contemplation. There’s more than a mere landscape or figure here. Together, the foggy crag and stalwart figure make magic of meditation.

Friedrich keeps the canvas simple. We see only bluffs, fog, and a man with a walking stick at the forefront. These elements feel close and clear. Friedrich blends foggy wisps into the nebulous background… both earth and sky. We know the mountains and forest loom beyond. But also that they’re not the point. That’s because of our wanderer. He wears traditional clothes and surveys the scene with a thoughtful posture. We see in his stance that the walking stick isn’t a necessity now. He’s not leaning on it. Rather, it’s a prop that represents this man’s journey.

Romanticism

Romantic art sprouted wings in Europe in the early 1800s. This movement revolved around intense emotion. Prevalent examples included awe and fear. Romantics often portrayed these feelings regarding nature’s beauty and the sublime. In today’s world, romance has an amorous meaning. But that wasn’t the case in 1800s Romanticism. In fact, some of the most iconic Romantic artworks focus on a single figure. Caspar David Friedrich’s painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog sets a perfect example.

Rückenfigur  

Rückenfigur  works in painting as the back of a figure. We see a person from behind as they gaze into a landscape. This painting motif dates to antiquity but rose to popularity in Germany during this period. Caspar David Friedrich is the most illustrative and iconic example. His masterpiece Wanderer above the Sea of Fog serves as the most common visual archetype for Rückenfigur . In fact, if you look up Rückenfigur in most any reference, this painting will likely dominate in the results.

Mood and meaning : Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

This figure turns away from us at the moment he reaches a peak in his journey. He stands at the pinnacle of experience, gazing out to a vast horizon of mist and mystery. His garments signify the past and tradition. But he looks into the great unknown. There’s a sense of this fog swelling upward. The mist works as a physical manifestation for the heightening of emotion. His heart soars. This great surge of emotion happens without us. He turns his back to remind us that profound connection can happen within. This wanderer needs only the misty cliffs and his own mind to find bliss.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog spotlights a landscape with a figure from behind. Friedrich accomplishes this meaning magnification with Rückenfigur . A favorite tool in his kit, there’s inherent mystery in a turned back. It raises questions about the figure’s identity. But it also forces us to focus on the setting. Many art lovers spend a long time on the figure anyway, though. They write about this wanderer a lot. Most seem to believe this works as a self portrait for Friedrich. He was a redhead, as is our wanderer. The painter also held political ideals that match the figure’s traditional garb.

These details matter to some degree, of course. Friedrich included them for a reason. But they aren’t why Wanderer above the Sea of Fog works as a masterpiece. That floating, misty fog owns the scene on both earth and sky. Friedrich imbues the painting with a sense of wonder with these wisps. The figure’s back looks a bit like a cutout set upon this luxuriant setting. It’s a reminder that whomever this man is, he’s only on the earth a short time. These foggy cliffs will remain much longer. He’s an anonymous man because this could, and will, be anyone. That exultant feeling doesn’t belong only to this one man. It’s there for all who climb these bluffs.

Friedrich captured the sense of standing among the clouds. All at once, this man feels both powerful and insignificant. The true protagonist in Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is that emotion. The mist and clouds shall drift away. This mysterious man will wander home. But the romantic crescendo of this moment lives on. Craggy rocks fill the forefront of the painting, near us viewers. That’s because we’re here on earth and not actually having this experience. The painter calls to us, though. He gives us a mission to get out there and find our own version of this delight. It’s a lonely road to enlightenment, Friedrich seems to say. But well worth the trip.

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog – FAQs

Is wanderer above the sea of fog related to frankenstein.

Yes. There’s a scene in the book Frankenstein that harkens to Wanderer above the Sea of Fog . There’s a scene in which Frankenstein ruminates on an alpine glacier. It’s a striking parallel. Turns out, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein not only as a meditation on science. She was also quite an art lover.

I recently reread Frankenstein in the original version. Shelley rewrote it and that more palatable rewrite is the one most people read these days. That was what inspired me to write about this glorious painting. If you’re interested, I recommend this Guardian article about high art references in Frankenstein .

Why is Wanderer above the Sea of Fog an important painting?

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog remains an iconic image today. This work both exemplifies the artistic Romanticism of the 1800s and serves as the best example of painting’s Rückenfigur motif (a figure facing away from the viewer in a landscape painting, drawing more attention to the scene than a standard figurative artwork).

Caspar David Friedrich painted Wanderer above the Sea of Fog in 1818. But it didn’t achieve its current status as a masterpiece until the 1970s. In fact, Friedrich felt rather unappreciated as a painter in his lifetime. He went on record with many such resentments. Luckily, his masterpiece holds our attention today much more than these cranky remarks.

Enjoyed this Wanderer above the Sea of Fog analysis?

Check out these other essays about German Paintings .

Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer official page by the  Hamburger Kunsthalle

Title also translated as  Wanderer above the Mist ,  Mountaineer in a Misty Landscape , and other variants;  Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer  in German

Grave, Johannes (2012).  Caspar David Friedrich . Translated by Elliot, Fiona. Prestel. 

Hoch, Karl-Ludwig (1987). Caspar David Friedrich und die böhmischen Berge.

Hofmann, Werner (2000). Caspar David Friedrich. Translated by Whittall, Mary. London: Thames & Hudson.Dresden: Kohlhammer Verlag.

Gunderson, Jessica (2008). Romanticism. The Creative Company.

Kunibert Bering, Rolf Niehoff (2015), Visual Proficiency: A Perspective on Art Education . Athena-Verlag.

Koerner, Joseph Leo, Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape, 2nd edition, Reaktion Books, 2009,Koerner, Joseph Leo, Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape, 2nd edition, Reaktion Books, 2009.

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The art of wanderlust, the big picture.

The art and life of Mark di Suvero

Casper David Friedrich,  Wanderer above the Sea of Fog , 1817

In Caspar David Friedrich’s most famous painting, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1818), the German Romantic artist depicts a young, aristocratic-looking man in a green overcoat as he stands atop a jagged rock, taking in a misty, high-altitude scene of mountains and cliffs. The image shows a moment of ultimate self-reflection in the vein of Immanuel Kant—a privileged man working out his interior feelings through exterior Romantic symbolism. The fog parts for him, but only just so, revealing not verdant hills and lush forests but dense mountainsides and jagged rocks. The man is at once a master of the universe and entirely subservient to it: even from high above, he can only see a challenging sliver of what he might otherwise think he controls.

Today, Friedrich’s painting has a postcard feel about it. It has been so distilled to its narrative essence of soul-searching and travel that the actual strokes, the artistic style, cease to matter. Instead, it functions as a symbolic stand-in for European Romanticism and ideals of wanderlust at large. It is a historical guidepost that acts as the hinge between the late eighteenth-century German Sturm und Drang (“storm and stress”) movement, which manifested in visual art as scenes of storms and shipwrecks representing the awesome power of nature’s irrational destruction, and the later Romantic depiction, which, as in Friedrich’s painting, with a silhouetted figure allowed the viewer to read the natural scene as representative of a subjective internal human state.

The Prussian natural scientist Alexander von Humboldt, the English poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, and, later, the French Realist Gustave Courbet and his compatriot symbolist Paul Gauguin were all central to philosophizing, writing, or painting about travel as a way of opening up the soul. Wanderlust, to them, was inherently existential: new physical pathways opened new pathways within the mind. A geographical pilgrimage permitted a pilgrimage within the self.

“Wanderlust,” an exhibition on at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin until September 16, takes on this history of travel and self-searching, showcasing a hundred and twenty works by the aforementioned artists as well as those by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Emil Nolde, Otto Dix, and Johan Christian Dahl, among others. But with this show—with its interest in showing the clever, symbolic ways self-discovery has been depicted—it’s worth looking at the alternative value of evoking rather than depicting these feelings of reflection.

Indeed, should art be about showing a person as he experiences a feeling or about finding a way to actually create that feeling in the viewer? The time and resources involved in existential soul-searching have long been a privilege afforded only to a select few. So how, one wonders while walking through the exhibition, might art reach everyone? How might wanderlust become visceral and universal rather than selective and distanced?

Wanderlust is, historically, a German idea. Wandern , meaning to hike or to roam, and lust, of course, meaning to desire, began not as a leisure activity but as a serious existential exercise of going out into nature in order to go into oneself. The Romantics believed this is where happiness and self-contentment could be found. The Germans of the eighteenth century, especially, were enamored with Italy for its natural landscapes, but German men with the time and the means for long hikes tended mostly to traverse their own country’s varied landscapes, from the Rhine Valley to the Harz Mountains to the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, which straddle the Czech Republic nearby.

Jens Ferdinand Willumsen, Bjergbestigersken (A mountain climber) , 1912

At the time, hiking in Germany was akin to participating in a Parisian salon: a marker of status and intellectualism. Courbet painted himself as a trekker in The Meeting, or Bonjour Monsieur Courbet (1854) and Gauguin, in homage, also painted himself as one in Bonjour Monsieur Gauguin (1889). Jens Ferdinand Willumsen depicted his wife hiking in a long skirt in A Mountain Climber (1912). Hiking was closely aligned with the Enlightenment—a form of serious internal and external self-improvement.

But wanderlust was also closed off to most people. Like the French flaneur, what was artistically recorded was the activity of a privileged class—predominately white artistic and intellectual European men. Given its narrow focus on European Romanticism, the exhibition is unable to fully approach wanderlust in a democratic way. What would have elevated the show, and given it a more coherent and forward-thinking argument, would have been to juxtapose the Romantic ideal with the American abstract expressionist creation of these same kinds of experiences.

Take Barnett Newman, one of the prototypical American abstract expressionists and a famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) philosopher of art, who believed that the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European painters—the Romantics and symbolists especially—should have been searching within what he termed “a sublime context,” rather than in the objective world of nature. The Romantics, he believed, were forever caught up in the wrong question—“whether beauty was in nature or could be found without nature”—when the real question had nothing to do with “any concern with the problem of beauty and where to find it.”

“The failure of European art to achieve the sublime is due to this blind desire to exist inside the reality of sensation (the objective world, whether distorted or pure) and to build an art within a framework of pure plasticity (the Greek ideal of beauty, whether that plasticity be a romantic active surface or a classic stable one),” he wrote in his 1948 essay, “The Sublime is Now.”

What Newman explicitly proposed in his philosophy and implicitly proposed via his “zip” paintings—in which solid fields of color seem to give way to other dimensions as a strip or strips of different colors runs through them—was a fundamentally new way of unlocking the self. Newman, and American abstract expressionists more generally, wanted to recreate a feeling for the viewer rather than merely representing another person having that feeling, as the Romantics did.

Casper David Friedrich, Monk by the Sea , 1809

One of Friedrich’s other well-known paintings is Monk by the Sea (1809), an oil painting with a very similar composition to Wanderer above the Sea of Fog . In Monk by the Sea , a figure—apparently a monk—overlooks an inky, blue-green sea from a vanishing patch of land, the clouds rolling in towards him, the sea expansive on the canvas. Compare it, as Robert Rosenblum did in his 1961 essay “The Abstract Sublime,” to Mark Rothko’s Light, Earth, and Blue (1954), which takes away the figure in the frame and distills the land and the clouds and the roaring sea into blocks of colors, which bleed into one another. Rothko’s work provides a distilled vision of the view that the monk sees in Friedrich’s painting and attempts to evoke the same feeling the monk seems to have. By simplifying the scene and capturing its essence rather than its realist specifics, Rothko places the viewer not on the threshold of the infinite as Friedrich does but, crucially, within the infinite. Rothko’s painting is more direct and more visceral, and, as a result, it also becomes more democratic in nature. Anyone can have the experience the monk has on the edge of the world simply by looking at the Rothko.

Rothko, Light, Earth and Blu e, 1954

Similarly, in Newman’s Vir Heroicus Sublimis (1950-51), the viewer is placed on the precipice of a red void. The painting is, as Rosenblum writes, “as terrifying, if exhilarating, as the arctic emptiness of the tundra; and in its passionate reduction of pictorial means to a single hue (warm red) and a single kind of structural division (vertical) for some one hundred and forty-four square feet, it likewise achieves a simplicity as heroic and sublime as the protagonist of its title.” The directness of the abstract expressionist work leaps beyond the Romantic ideation of wanderlust to place the viewer within the awe, rather than as a spectator to it.

Even Kant, upon whom the Romantics so largely staked their artistic philosophies, predicted the necessity of abstract expressionism’s directness. In his 1790 treatise Critique of Judgment , Kant wrote, “The Beautiful in nature is connected with the form of the object, which consists in having boundaries; the Sublime is to be found in a formless object, so far as in it, or by occasion of it, boundlessness is represented.”

The art of the future is boundless, and so is its potential for wandering. The German Romantics found the divine; the American abstract expressionists created it. Not everyone can travel, but anyone can sit in front of a canvas, an image. To wander no longer requires one to have resources; instead, it is universal and should be depicted as such. No matter how much we travel—no matter which mountains we hike or which cloud-swept vistas we position ourselves in front of—it is only an internal openness to change that will ever really allow it to enter us.

Barnett Newman, Vir Heroicus Sublimis , 1951

One generally assumes that the man in Friedrich’s Wanderer is having a kind of religious or existential experience standing high above the clouds, but there is also no way to tell. So too, if one goes to MoMA to stand in front of Newman’s Vir Heroicus Sublimis in the wrong mindset, one may feel absolutely nothing. No matter the scene or the artwork, no matter what is in front of us or where we are, it is ultimately up to us how we react. Travel, geography, physical movement—these Romantic ideas of existentialism hold far less sway over our internal being than we’ve long thought. What most matters, rather, is how we’re made to feel, how we choose to feel, and how we allow ourselves to feel.

“Instead of making cathedrals out of Christ, man, or ‘life’,” Newman wrote, “we are making [them] out of ourselves, out of our own feelings.”

Cody Delistraty is a writer and critic in Paris.

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Force of nature

G ood stuff, bad weather. "Whenever a storm with thunder and lightning moved over the sea he would hurry out to the top of the cliffs as if he had a pact of friendship with the forces of nature, or even go on into the oakwood where the lightning had split a tall tree from top to bottom, and murmur, 'How great, how mighty, how wonderful!'" Thus a friend remembered the wanderings of Caspar David Friedrich, as a young painter on the island of Rügen in 1802. Man among the unchained elements, drawing a sense of his own mingled littleness and grandeur from their convulsion: it is the archetype of Romantic scenarios, Byron on the ocean, Turner in the Alps, and any number of alert, soulful young German idealists contemplating their travels north to the Baltic or south to the Bay of Naples. Romanticism was the primal urge of high German culture in the early 19th century. Nowhere can the force of this, as reflected in painting, be better appreciated at present than in Dublin, where the National Gallery of Ireland is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a wonderful loan show from the Nationalgalerie in Berlin, A German Dream: Masterpieces of Romanticism .

It sometimes happens that a great cultural movement goes hand in hand with the self-discovery of the country in which it takes place, and so it was with German Romantic painting. The early 19th century in Germany was tough on intellectuals; in the wake of the Napoleonic wars and the Congress of Vienna came a fierce persecution of democratic ideas and those who held them, so that to assert one's "German-ness" as an artist, one's allegiance to folk culture and local history, was in some ways a radical act. If a painter portrayed himself or others in altdeutsch (old-fashioned German) costume, that too was a political statement. Gothic was traditional, Greek was modern. "We are not Greeks any more," wrote Goethe, and the implications of this thought went deep.

You see them, for instance, in the extraordinary landscapes with Gothic churches, attended by devout pilgrimages from the whole region, back-lit in all their staggering complication of tracery, by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781-1841). Beyond comparison the greatest neo-classical German architect of the 19th century, Schinkel simply vaporised the boundaries between the classic and Romantic sensibilities; Prussia might think of itself, through his architecture, as a reborn Doric Greece, but his paintings equally celebrate the nationalist continuity of the Gothic past.

You can see Schinkel's paintings as a call to nationalist self-confidence. But there was also an inwardness, whispering and pleading to be let out. So the exemplary Romantic was partly an enraptured patriot and partly an exile within his own culture. This chimed with the preferences of Romantic painting for the wanderer, the solitary figure turning his back on his society to better contemplate the distant moon, the silent bay or the landscapes of a foreign land.

And that was where Caspar David Friedrich came in, quiet, clear and (eventually) dominant. Friedrich was the son of a soapmaker, born in the insignificant provincial seaport of Griefswald in 1774. He died obscure and more than slightly mad in Dresden in 1840.

His modernity isn't due so much to the "look" of his paintings, carefully composed, thinly laid and breathlessly static, as to the ideas behind them. The question they ask is the one asked by his contemporary, the philosopher Friedrich Schlegel: "Can mankind be understood divorced from nature, and is it so very different from other manifestations of nature?"

The answer from Schlegel and Friedrich, as from a congregation of ecologists and earth people since, was no and no again. Friedrich did not believe he, or anyone else, was "outside" of nature, and when he painted images like the Nationalgalerie's Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon , 1818/1824, that was the point he was making. The human pair, in their "Old German" clothes, are scarcely different in tone or modelling from the deep dramas of nature around them, the leaning rocks and the half-uprooted, venerable tree in silhouette. They gaze enraptured at the moon - significantly, when Friedrich was asked what they were doing, he ironically retorted: "These two are plotting some demagogic activities."

If there is one word for the mood of Friedrich's pictures it is "longing": the desire, never satisfied, to escape from the secular conditions of life into union with a distant nature, to be absorbed in it, to become one with the Great Other, whether that other is a mountain crag, an ancient but enduring tree, the calm of a horizontal sea, or the stillness of a cloud.

Sometimes actual symbols of formal religion do appear - a gothic spire, a cross on a mountain pass. But they are not really necessary, since the object of Friedrich's worship is nature rather than its creator. The watchers in his paintings, turning their backs to us, gaze at nature on our behalf; it is a form of vicarious prayer, and that was how Friedrich's rather small audience interpreted it.

Sometimes the painting doesn't even need the watcher. Carl Gustav Carus (1789-1869) went to Naples in the travelling party of Prince Friedrich Augustus of Saxony in 1828, and his reaction to his quarters in the Casino Reale would strike a chord with any later tourist who has ever had unexpectedly good luck with a hotel. Led upstairs by an elderly chamberlain, "I enter, and in front of me lie Vesuvius, the sea, the castle, and the blue distance! I thanked God profusely. Not only had He graciously led me to my destination but He had considered me worthy of such a room!"

The mood is very different from the indignant whining about bedbugs and inedible food of a Smollett on the non-so-grand tour, and in Balcony Room with a View of the Bay of Naples , 1829, Carus painted what may be the first visual prayer of thanks to the Almighty for a concierge's kindness ever done by a gratified tourist - the archetypal blue view past the shutters, a neo-classical Matisse almost, with a guitar propped against the doorframe echoing the slant of a felucca's rigging just beyond it.

German Romanticism did indeed carry a strong religious streak. Some of its exponents saw themselves as spiritual reformers, sent by the zeitgeist to reform a culture muddied, as they thought, by relativism and realism. Like the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in England, they would remind viewers of the lost (but regainable) piety and innocence of an earlier world, that of the New Testament. They called themselves the Nazarenes. The squeaky-clean, idealised form of Christian representation they went in for - only a hair away from pious kitsch, and sometimes not even that, to modern eyes - is summed up in Friedrich Overbeck's Christ in the House of Mary and Martha , 1812-16, a highly coloured but rigidly frozen pastiche of Raphael. A little of the Nazarenes' cloying, self-conscious pietism goes a long way, and their idea of turning themselves into a sort of monastic order of art-priests (who lived in a sort of commune until 1820 in an actual monastery in Rome, that of San Isidro on the Pincio) now seems absurd. Yet you can't doubt the sincerity of their enterprise, or the intensity of their cult of friend ship. In 1811, when Wilhelm and Ridolfo Schadow, the artist sons of the Prussian neo-classical sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow, caught their first distant glimpse of the Eternal City, they swore an oath that they "would rather stay dead in Rome than return to our home city as unknowns". Four years later, Wilhelm painted one of the classics of German group portraiture: himself and his brother clasping hands in manly resolution, while their friend and mentor, the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorwaldsen, seals the bond with his left hand on Ridolfo's shoulder and a laurel wreath in his right. It's almost an artworld version of David's picture of heroic brotherhood, The Oath of the Horatii . The Schadow boys are clearly bound to win the battle for Noble Art , and they will do it with their pals as a band of brothers.

The most startling picture in the show is not a Friedrich, packed as those are with metaphysical symbolism; nor is it a view of those crags, lakes and sunsets beloved of German romantics. It is by Johann Hummel (1769-1852), a professor of perspective and optics at the Berlin Academy of Art, and it depicts The Grinding of the Granite Bowl , 1832. It is an early example of the Technological Sublime, celebrating the wonder of man's power over the natural world.

The bowl in question was destined for the square in front of Schinkel's Altes Museum on the museum island in Berlin. It was cut, hollowed out, ground and polished from an enormous piece of granite found in Brandenburg. It was very consciously meant to be a world's wonder, like the gigantic basins of hard stone that were such monumental features of ancient Egypt and Rome - condensations of human skill, of incredibly laborious triumph over raw, resistant nature. But the size of this bowl and the technical challenges it posed were beyond anything from antiquity, and Hummel produced three pictures of its creation: first the enormous basin, upside down, being ground and polished in a Berlin workshop, then the job of turning it over (a wondrous spectacle to Berliners, as the erection of the Egyptian obelisk in St Peter's Square had been to Romans years before), and finally the bowl on its plinth in the Lustgarten.

With his view of the bowl in the workshop, Hummel achieved a near miracle of detailed and layered perception, recording not only the natural colours of the stone but also the hues and shapes of the workshop reflected in its surface: we see windows distorted by the curvature, and even a fragment of landscape through a window picked up on the glassy granite, every detail of the ponderous bracing that keeps the stone in place and of the geared turning apparatus. The basin becomes an apparition, rigorous in its technological truth but also surrealist in its strangeness and intensity. If Hummel had never painted another picture, this one would have assured him a small but distinct place in the history of European sensibility.

· A German Dream: Masterpieces of Romanticism is at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, until January 30. Details: 00 353 1 661 5133.

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