Caspar David Friedrich: The morning

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Caspar David Friedrich is an important representative of German Romanticism. Like many artists of this era, Friedrich also devoted himself to nature as a pictorial object. An example of the divine bond between people and nature is the picture "The Morning", the analysis of which is characteristic of the painter's style.

The landscape as a motif of romanticism
The landscape as a motif of romanticism

Caspar David Friedrich and Romanticism - Characteristics

In order to be able to understand the pictures of Caspar David Friedrich, you have to understand his time in which he lived. Only with the knowledge of the social, political and social peculiarities of the life and creative time of an artist can you interpret his pictures.

  • In Romanticism, people had a different relationship with nature. She was the expression of the soul and mediator between the divine and the earthly. Caspar David Friedrich stages nature as a perfect idyll; he visualizes the metaphysical (his works should not be a representation of nature, as they are individual compositions of the artist).
  • Already in antiquity were firmly defined Symbols and attributes used by artists in their representations. Only a precise analysis makes this possible interpretation such works. Certain attributes are assigned to people in mythology, colors symbolize states of mind and much more.
  •  Colors also play a major role in Friedrich's works. Above all, his recurring use of violet in all its variants (also in "Der Morgen") gives his pictures a great melancholy. The viewer literally sinks into the melancholy of what is depicted.
  • Since God showed himself in nature in the religious understanding of romanticism, this is always presented as a worthwhile afterlife.
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  • The portrayal of spruce or oak is often found in Caspar David Friedrich's pictures. These trees also have a high symbolic content and can be read as insignia of the eternal.

The morning - an analysis of the picture

  • The painting "Der Morgen" was created in 1820 and for this reason is attributed to the Romantic era.
  • It is painted in the classic "oil on canvas" technique and kept in a small format (22 x 30.5 cm) characteristic of the time.
  • In the foreground of the picture you can see a body of water on which there is a boat with a person. As in all of Caspar David Friedrich's works, this person is painted as a shadowy figure. No age, gender or the like can be identified. The figure is in the "golden section" and seems to be doing something like fishing.
  • Boats are a characteristic element of the artist's work. They are mostly depicted on the water, but over time they will also enter the harbor. This port symbolizes the ultimate goal in human life - death.
  • The water is bordered by a green bank, which merges into the adjacent spruce forest. In this way, the center of the picture takes up the largest amount of space. It is followed by a rock silhouette and the morning horizon. This background is bathed in light colors (yellow, violet, blue, white) and looks very melancholy and dreamy.
  • The foreground and the center of the picture are bathed in fog. This envelops the scenery like a delicate ribbon. It slowly dissolves and rises into the morning sky. Despite its melancholy, the painting can be interpreted very positively. The analysis shows that it is the dawn of a new day. The night is over and everything is open. Man takes his fate in hand again.

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