Abbey in an Oak Grove
8:07 AM |
| Casper David Friedrich, Abbey in an Oak Grove, 1809 |
Caspar David Friedrich was a 19th-century Romantic painter. His paintings predominantly emphasize themes of barren weather, turmoiled nights and gloomy surroundings filled with gothic ruins, symbolic of the ruin of society. Religion influences Friedrich’s style, as shown by the recurring symbols of church and nature. In Abbey in an Oak Grove, the church, visibly decayed a, dominates a scene consumed by dark colors and foreboding imagery. Given the fact that religion once offered people a purpose, the church from Friedrich’s painting now brings people to their final resting area, a cemetery.
To Friedrich, this scene could simultaneously stand for multiple things. One way to look at the painting is the decline of the old Church, leaving behind only monuments of the faith that once sustained it. At the same time, nature reclaims its place as it once was. The trees now grow where gardens and chapels once stood. Doomsday has arrived. Friedrich loved to paint scenes set with reminders of mortality, giving the painting a mystical feel through death. It’s no wonder David d’Angers, a famous french sculptor, said Friedrich had “discovered the tragedy of landscape”.
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