Studie fra det indre af en nåletræskov 1789 - 1840

Caspar David Friedrich created this watercolor study of a pine forest, a symphony of verticality. The dominant motif here is, of course, the tree. Throughout various cultures, the tree has symbolized life, growth, and connection between the earthly and the divine. Think of the World Tree, Yggdrasil, in Norse mythology, or the Tree of Knowledge in Genesis. Here, in Friedrich’s study, the birch tree, stark against the muted background, becomes a symbol of resilience and solitude. One might recall similar symbolic uses of trees in earlier art, like in medieval depictions of the crucifixion where the tree from which the cross is made takes on sacred significance. Friedrich’s trees, however, evoke a more personal, internal experience. They speak to the Romantic era's fascination with nature as a mirror of the soul, inviting us to find echoes of our own emotional landscape within the silent depths of the forest.