Chalk Cliff on Rugen

Thesis Statement

The decorating depicts the outlook from the chalk cliffs of the Stubbenkammer, at that time one of the most well renowned lookout points on the island.

Introduction

Chalk Cliffs on Rügen is oil decorating of circa 1818 by the German Romantic creative individual Caspar David Friedrich.

In January 1818, Caspar David Friedrich wed Christiane Caroline Bommer, who was about 20 years his junior. On their honeymoon in July and August 1818, they travelled to relations in Neubrandenburg and Greifswald. From there, the twosome undertook an excursion to the isle of Rügen with Friedrich's male sibling Christian. The decorating seems as a commemoration of the couple's union.

Discussion

It is often but incorrectly accepted that the Wissower Klinken outcrops in specific were a form for the painting; although, these did not live at the time of the painting's creation, but emerged subsequent because of erosion. Friedrich often created his countrysides from mindfully selected components of distinct sketches, in order that a exact position is not inevitably discernible (Wolf 36-74).

In the foreground, two trees, whose departs cover the top third of the decorating, border the scenery. Two men and a woman in village apparel look in marvel at the view. The slim number in the middle is generally understood as Caspar David Friedrich himself.

The two minute sailboats stand as emblems for the soul which undoes to eternal life and correspond to the numbers of the two men. On the left, the woman in a red dress (who is generally recognised as Friedrich's wife Caroline) is seated adjacent an nearly dried-up shrub: only the twigs round her face are leafing out. With her right hand she points either at the abyss or at the blossoms bordering it. In compare to the men, who look either at the abyss or into the expanse, she communicates with the other figures—whether she feels endangered by the abyss or compelled by the natural attractiveness is unclear (Schmied 31-64).

The colors of the figure's apparel are furthermore symbolic. The middle number is azure, the hue of faith; the left number is red, that of love; and the right number is green, that of hope. Thus they can be understood as embodiments of the three Christian theological virtues: belief, wish and love. The art historian Helmut Börsch-Supan sees in the image a representation of Friedrich's relative to death, and the risk to life by death: "clear [...] as nearly not ever before, but at the identical time furthermore in an oddly serene mood" (Schmied 31-64).

Again it presents a personal and private view, with the figures looking at the sea and cliffs, inviting us to do the same.

Neoclassical and Romantic movements cover the period of 1750 to 1850. Neoclassicism showed life to be more rational than it really was. The Romantics favoured an interest in nature, picturesque, violent, and sublime. Unlike Neo-classicism, which stood for the order, reason, tradition, society, intellect and formal diction, Romanticism allowed people to get away from the constrained rational views of life and concentrate on an ...