Caspar David Friedrich

Caspar David Friedrich was the "Frigid" Romantic, his landscapes filled with a profound sense of solitude and spiritual longing.

Key Characteristics:

• Romantic Idealism: Focused on emotion, intuition, and the subjective experience of nature.
• Sublime Nature: Depicted nature as vast, powerful, and awe-inspiring, often dwarfing human figures.
• Symbolism: Used natural elements (mountains, trees, ruins) to represent deeper meanings related to mortality, spirituality, and the transience of life.
• Back Views ("Rückenfigur"): Often showed figures from behind, inviting the viewer to share their contemplation of the landscape.
• Muted Colors: Favored subdued palettes of blues, browns, and greens, enhancing the melancholic and contemplative mood.

Key Themes:

• Solitude & Melancholy: Explored the isolation of the individual and the fleeting nature of existence.
• Spirituality & Transcendence: Searched for the divine within nature and the connection between humanity and the cosmos.
• Mortality & Decay: Reflected on the impermanence of life through ruins, barren trees, and twilight scenes.
• National Identity: Showed the importance of the homeland and the emotional attachment to German landscape.