Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), was considered the most important member of the German landscape movement which was deeply steeped in romanticism. It began in Europe and was at its peak from 1800-1850. Started as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, the movement was also a rebellion against the elitist norms of the age of enlightenment and the scientific rationalisation of nature.

Friedrich is famous for his allegorical landscapes, which usually feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, morning mists, barren trees or Gothic ruins. This painting, ‘Wanderer above the Sea of Fog’ (1818) 94.8 × 74.8 cm, is the best example of the artist’s work. Art historian, John Lewis Gaddis, writes in his book, The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past that “it at once suggests mastery over landscape and the insignificance of the individual within it. We see no face, so it’s impossible to know whether the prospect facing the young man is exhilarating or terrifying, or both”. — M.I.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 31, 2014