Inside Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, the Quintessential Romantic Masterpiece

Vast landscapes evoke a profound response in every individual, regardless of how contemporary humans experience nature. Delving into history, artists' representation of natural divinities was driven by spiritual and philosophical aspirations. A remarkable example of this is Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, which epitomized the 19th-century fascination with nature and stood at the core of the Romantic movement.

The image of a man, captured from behind, gazing into the fog-enveloped mountain tops continues to captivate present-day viewers. The depicted state of in-betweenness represents contemplation that is now seldom achieved undisturbedly, except in remote areas untouched by human interaction.

Friedrich completed Wanderer above the Sea of Fog in 1818. Its provenance remained unknown until 1939 when the emblematic painting of Romanticism was displayed in the Wilhelm August Luz gallery in Berlin. Over the following decades, the painting passed through a few private collections. In 1970, the Hamburger Kunsthalle acquired the work, and Wanderer above the Sea has been displayed at this institution ever since.

The Symbolism of Wanderer above the Sea of Fog

The inspiration for the painting came from a landscape Caspar David Friedrich encountered around the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in Saxony and Bohemia, southeast of Dresden, Germany. The artist made sketches of the site and then ingeniously combined different elements to create the final landscape composition. The left background of the 1818 landscape showcases the Rosenberg or the Kaltenberg mountain, while the rocks in the front depict the Gamrig mountain near Rathen.

This captivating masterpiece by Caspar David Friedrich is widely regarded as an extraordinary portrayal of self-reflection, evoking the sublime, one of the most significant concepts of Romanticism. An undefined and almost divine presence deeply permeates the individual's soul in their quest to understand both themselves and the world. Friedrich once wrote, "when a region cloaks itself in mist, it appears larger and more sublime, elevating the imagination, and rousing the expectations like a veiled girl." The emphasis on mist unravels universal philosophical questions concerning existence in the modern world.

During the creation of this masterful work, Friedrich spent considerable time with his friends, scientist Carl Gustav Carus and Norwegian painter Johan Christian Dahl, who might have influenced the composition's formation. While the artist followed the Lutheran doctrine, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog does not explicitly reflect his religious beliefs.

Friedrich likely saw untouched nature as a divine manifestation. The painting can also be interpreted as an illustration of the modern longing for nature, reacting against the Industrial Revolution and urbanization's overwhelming impact.

Appreciating the Walks

Another significant aspect of Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, one of the most iconic paintings of the Romantic movement, is its celebration of the act of walking, particularly mountain climbing. This form of recreation and sport began to develop rapidly in the mid-19th century, making Friedrich's painting one of the early representations that favored mountain climbing—an activity that evolved alongside scientific exploration and tourism. In her book A History of Walking, the writer and historian Rebecca Solnit exemplifies Friedrich's Wanderer as the prime illustration of the evolution of mountain climbing.

In the context of modernity, the figure of the lonesome contemplative man can be seen as an anticipation of a flâneur or an urban wanderer—a type that gained popularity in French literature and visual arts during the 1860s and 1870s. The archetypical image of the flâneur has been increasingly explored by scholars throughout the 20th century, thanks to Walter Benjamin, who wrote about it in the context of Charles Baudelaire's poetry.

The Legacy

Regarding his contemporaries, some scholars have drawn parallels between Friedrich's painting and Mary Shelley's iconic literary work, Frankenstein, suggesting an exploration of uneasiness and alienation. Interestingly, both the painter and the writer gained more fame after their deaths. Norwegian art historian Andreas Aubert played a significant role in rediscovering Caspar David Friedrich's work, which caught the attention of Symbolist painters who found inspiration in his representative landscapes. For example, Edvard Munch's painting The Lonely Ones (1899) is inspired by Friedrich's Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon, while proponents of Surrealism, like Max Ernst and René Magritte, also drew inspiration from Friedrich's paintings.

The identity of the figure turned away from the viewer, known as a Rückenfigur, has been a topic of scholarly debate. Most likely, it is a portrait of the highly ranked forestry Colonel Friedrich Gotthard von Brincken. His attire suggests that the figure might have been a volunteer ranger for King Friedrich Wilhelm III during the Franco-Prussian war. This assumption is related to Friedrich's belief in the Unification of Germany and the dissolution of the German Confederation, as he was a German liberal.

In the 1930s, the Nazis appropriated Caspar David Friedrich's oeuvre, considering the German artist one of their ideological predecessors in visual art. They viewed his paintings, mainly landscapes, as embodiments of their slogan, Blood and Soil, which described the unification of a racially conditioned national body and a settlement area. As a result, scholars rejected exploring Friedrich's oeuvre for decades.

Nevertheless, the perception of Wanderer above the Sea of Fog started changing, and the painting, now regarded as a centerpiece of Romanticism in Germany, eventually became among the most iconic paintings. The image graced the cover of the 1990 philosophical tome The Ideology of the Aesthetic by Terry Eagleton and Franz Schubert's Winter Journey cycle. Interestingly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, UNESCO even used Wanderer above the Sea of Fog and its threatening landscape as part of their viral campaign encouraging people to stay at home.

While lockdowns are no longer part of our daily routine, Friedrich's work continues to convey a timeless message. The landscape remains highly sought after, adorning tattoos and t-shirts alike. Its striking power still prompts observers to ponder questions about their own identity while walking alone across wondrous mountain tops shrouded in fog.

Featured image: Caspar David Friedrich - Wanderer above the sea of fog, circa , detail, 1817. Oil on canvas. Height: 98 cm (38.5 in); width: 74 cm (29.1 in). Collection Hamburger Kunsthalle. Image via Creative Commons.