Cairn in Snow
| Cairn in Snow | |
|---|---|
| German: Hünengrab im Schnee | |
 | |
| Artist | Caspar David Friedrich |
| Year | 1807 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 61 cm × 80 cm (24 in × 31 in) |
| Location | Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden |
Cairn in Snow, also known as Dolmen in the snow, (
Romantic allegorical landscape, depicting a stone cairn or dolmen set amid three oak trees on a hilltop, with a contemplative melancholy mood. It was probably painted around 1807, making it among Friedrich's first oil paintings. It measures 61 by 80 centimetres (24 in × 31 in) and has been held by the Galerie Neue Meister
in Dresden since 1905.
The main elements of the painting are taken from different locations in eastern Germany. The cairn is thought to be based on the
West Pomerania; the megalith was destroyed before 1818, but Friedrich had sketched it since at least 1802. Friedrich sketched the trees at Neubrandenburg, most clearly an 1807 sepia sketch Hünengrab am Meer ("Dolmen by the sea"). Similar oak trees reappear in several works by Friedrich, including Monk in the Snow (1808, also known as Winter), The Abbey in the Oakwood (1818), Monastery graveyard under snow (1818) and Oak tree in snow (1829). The hill is located near Wustrow
. The painting also includes four ravens, two above the cairn, one to the right, and a fourth high in the tree to the right.
-
Caspar David Friedrich: Monk in the Snow, also known as Winter, 1808 -
Caspar David Friedrich: The Abbey in the Oakwood, 1809 -
Caspar David Friedrich: Monastery graveyard under snow, 1818 -
Caspar David Friedrich: Oak tree in snow, 1829
.jpg)
The painting alludes to Christian and pagan symbolism. Trees and forests were seen as symbols of life endurance, longevity, and immortality.
entombed
. The painting also alludes to the permanence of the ancient stone landmark, the strength of the oak tree to withstand the storm broken and bowed but not defeated, and the continuity of life in the middle of winter.
Art critics have interpreted the painting as a meditation on life and death, and on the political situation in Germany following the defeats of
Tetschen Altar
.
The painting was first owned by the
Greifswald University professor Karl Schildener. It painting is described in 1828 in the Greifswald academical journal (II, 2, pp. 40–41).[3][4] The work was sold at auction in Leipzig in 1845 and acquired by Friedrich's friend and fellow painter Johan Christian Dahl. Dahl imitated the work in his own painting, Megalithic Tomb in Winter. It was sold from the estate of Dahl's only surviving son, Johann Siegwald Dahl, and acquired by the Galerie Neue Meister
in Dresden in 1905.
-
Caspar David Friedrich: Hünengrab bei Gützkow, 1802 -
Caspar David Friedrich: Hünengrab am Meer, 1807 -
Johan Christian Dahl: Megalith Grave in Winter, 1824–25
See also
References
- ^ "Forest and tree symbolism in folklore". www.fao.org. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ "World tree". global.britannica.com. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
- ^ "Hünengrab im Schnee", Staatliche Kunstsammlung Dresden, 2017-07-30.
- ^ Chris Noir, "Caspar David Friedrich", Time Does Not Rest, 29 April 2013.
- Caspar David Friedrich and the Age of German Romanticism, Linda Siegel, p. 81-82
- Political Symbolism in Modern Europe: Essays in Honor of George L. Mosse, edited by George Lachmann Mosse, Seymour Drescher, David Warren Sabean, Allan Sharlin, p. 221
- The Megaliths of Northern Europe, Magdalena Midgley, p.xiii
- Kosegarten's Cultural Legacy: Aesthetics, Religion, Literature, Art, and Music, Lewis Holmes, p. 123-124
Further reading
- Friedrich, Caspar David, by Theodor Pyl
- Aschenbeck/Dehnel/Stock, Auf den Spuren von Caspar David Friedrich, Verlag Fischerhude, 1993, ISBN 3-88 132 111-X
External links
Media related to Hünengrab im Schnee at Wikimedia Commons
