Facing the Sublime

During the Romantic period, German painters developed a type of landscape known in German as a stimmungslandschaft, which roughly translates to “emotional landscape.”  Rather than painting a topographically accurate depiction of the details of the landscape before them, these painters emphasize the mood that the landscape evokes and seek to portray the aesthetic of the sublime. The city of Dresden served as a major center for German Romantic landscape painting with Caspar David Friedrich at its core, famous for his spiritual and allegorical imagery. Among his close associates was the Norwegian painter Johan Christian Dahl, who sought to depict the interplay between the figures and their environment - the overall mood or atmosphere they create. Stimmungslandschaft is the key element connecting Dahl to Friedrich and the broader circle of Romantic landscape painters centered around Dresden who all sought to depict landscapes full of romantic feeling. Closely related to this element is the compositional device known as Rückenfigur, in which a figure is seen from behind, contemplating the natural scenery. The viewer is invited to join the painted figure in experiencing the sublime and recognizing the transcendence of nature. This technique evokes in the viewer an emotional and spiritual connection to the landscape. 

Two Men Contemplating the Moon, Caspar David Friedrich, ca.1825-30, Oil on canvas, 2000.51

Friedrich was known for his allegorical landscapes in which contemplative figures are featured from behind. The painting is meant to evoke an emotional response to nature, and the viewers are invited to join the figures' experience of the sublime. German Romantic painters like Friedrich were also deeply fascinated by the moon, which created a serene atmosphere conducive to deep thoughtfulness. Friedrich gave this painting to his friend and contemporary, Johan Christian Dahl, who responded by creating a painting in homage to Friedrich’s work.

Two Men Before a Waterfall at Sunset, Johan Christian Dahl, 1823, Oil on canvas, 2019.167.3

Dahl invites the viewer to appraise the sunset, the waterfall, and other inanimate parts of nature in the painting rather than focusing on the two human beings in the left corner. This painting was created in homage to his friend and contemporary, Casper David Friedrich, who gifted him with a similar painting featuring contemplative figures facing the scenery rather than looking out at the viewer. Dahl hoped to emphasize the transcendent beauty in nature has the power to pull us out of ourselves and cause us to realize that the world is a great and mysterious place.

Wanderer in the Storm, Julius vol Leypold, 1835, Oil on canvas, 2008.7

If the moon symbolized pious contemplation for German Romantic painters, a wanderer in an untamed land signified restless yearning. The solitary traveler looks small and insignificant in comparison to the barren and unkempt landscape. This painting emphasized nature’s impermanence and human solitude, themes that can be seen in many landscape paintings during this time period in Dresden. Leypold’s efforts to evoke an emotional response in his viewers using an emotive landscape connects his work to those of his contemporaries who sought to create emotional landscapes.

Carl Gustav Carus, Gothic Windows in the Ruins of the Monastery at Oybin, ca. 1828, Oil on canvas, 2007.192

Like his Romantic contemporaries, Carus emphasized the mood that the landscape evokes for the viewers. Unlike the other paintings we have looked at so far in this collection, nature does not dominate the area of this canvas. Instead, we look through two windows to a pale blue sky and a distant hill. This deserted church had become a motif for German Romantic artists. Although it is no longer inhabited, Carus depicts young trees to inspire hope in the viewer that new life can be created even among ruins.

Carl Gustav Carus, Schloss Milkel in Moonlight, 1833-35, Oil on canvas, 2018.749

This painting by Carus is meant to evoke in the viewers a sense of deep calm. Like in Friedrich’s work above, the moon in this painting creates a serene atmosphere ideal for contemplation. Carus was interested in the way that truth and meaning reveal themselves both within the rational mind and in the natural world. The two lit windows signify a wakeful human presence within the house while the moon illuminates the ever-present nature surrounding the house. 

Martinus Rørbye, View from the Citadel Ramparts in Copenhagen by Moonlight, 1839, Oil on canvas, 2007.164.7

The darker values in this painting create a quiet sense of expectation, as do the figures of the men facing out towards the sea. Rørbye employed the technique of Rückenfigur to create the sense of longing that is so prevalent in works of Romantic painters. Moonlight provides the only light in this painting, and though the moon itself is hidden, the light reflects up from the water. Although Rørbye is a Danish painter, he is greatly influenced by German painters of the time period including Dahl and Friedrich.