Cloudy Day. 1895

Isaac Levitan captured this landscape with pastel, focusing on the sky's somber mood. The most striking symbol here is the expansive, overcast sky. The sky, often seen as a representation of the divine or the transcendental, is heavy with clouds, obscuring any sense of heavenly light. This recalls the motif of obscured divinity found in Northern Renaissance paintings, where cloudy skies mirrored the religious and social anxieties of the time. Consider, too, the use of water, which mirrors the sky. The water and sky create an infinite loop. What emerges is a landscape not just of physical space but of mirrored emotional states. The image prompts a deep, subconscious engagement, stirring collective memories and existential reflections. The cyclical nature of weather and the mirroring of the sky and water demonstrate the cyclical nature of symbols and human experiences across different times.