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Caspar David Friedrich - Mann und Frau in Betrachtung des Mondes - Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin

The painting Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon was created by Caspar David Friedrich in 1824. The painting’s material is oil on canvas and stands 34 centimeters tall by 44 centimeters wide. The piece currently resides in the Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany.

Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon is a German Romantic landscape painting which features two human figures among a dark forest silhouetted against a pastel sky. The work’s dark toned foreground and light colored background create a sharp contrast. The sky suggests that the time is around dusk, when the moon is still early in rising. A dead, uprooted tree’s dark roots and branches sharply contrast with the pastel sky in the background. The jagged branches and stark contrast seem to create a threatening environment for the figures, and are reminiscent of the imposing gothic style seen originally in the medieval era, but revived in the Romantic era. The same can be said of the dark, shadowy trees and rocks surrounding the couple in the piece. The figures themselves are even dressed in dark colors and stiff, somewhat formal garments, which also serve to signify their higher class. The piece focuses heavily on nature as the couple gaze off into the sunset, and provokes an emotional response from the viewer, as well as from the figures featured in the piece. It also emphasizes spirituality in nature and the presence of the sublime, major themes of the Romantic era. The piece is an idealization of man’s connection to nature, represented by an average couple in higher society surrounded by an unexpected landscape otherwise untouched by civilization.

In the piece, the man and woman featured are facing away from the viewer, centered vertically, and located left of center horizontally. The woman’s arm is resting of the man’s shoulder, acknowledging their close relationship. Friedrich created another version of this painting titled Two Men Observing the Moon, and, as the name suggests, it lacks the female figure. It has been said that the addition of the female figure is an homage to the artist’s relationship with his own wife. They are viewing the moon together in the middle of the forest, signifying an appreciation of and emotional response to nature. The figures seem to be in awe of the natural creation and inspired by the sublime creator. The viewer is meant to identify with the figures, and participate in their contemplation of nature and the sublime.

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement which reached its peak in the first half of the eighteenth century. It began as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the cold and scientific rationalization of nature prominent in the preceding era. Romanticism, in contrast, emphasizes the value of emotion, intuition, and sentiment. Friedrich captured the spirit of the age in the quote “The artist’s feeling is his law.”

The Artist

Caspar David Friedrich was a prominent Romantic painter, and his work was widely regarded as the epitome of German Romanticism. He lived from September 5, 1774 to May 7, 1840, during the height of the Romantic period. He was the sixth of ten children, raised by a strict Lutheran father. This religious influence became very important to Friedrich, and a major part of the reason his works epitomize Romanticism. The Romantics emphasize elements of the sublime, and to Friedrich, Christ is the sublime. Three of Friedrich’s siblings and his mother died while he was still a child, so he was exposed to death and the concept of human mortality from an early age. This became a theme in many of his works. In Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon, the uprooted tree represents death, yet its contrast with the clear, bright sky represents hope, eternal life, and closeness to the sublime, or Christ. Friedrich lived in Dresden for the majority of his adult life, and was married to Caroline Bommer in 1818. She became an influence on his work as well. The woman in Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon is meant to represent her. During his lifetime Friedrich was said to be the most important German artist of his generation, yet he fell from favor and died in obscurity and “half mad.” His work is known for featuring isolated figures juxtaposed against vast landscapes. Perhaps his best known example of this is his piece Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. This piece has been widely used and regarded as the very definition of German Romanticism. His work is meant to emphasize nature, which Romantics saw as a manifestation of the sublime, and seek an emotional response from the viewer, which is often represented in the figures seen in his works. His pieces are meant to capture instances of sublimity and a connection to the spiritual self.