Eastern Coast of Ruegen Island with Shepherd 

Caspar David Friedrich rendered this sepia artwork, "Eastern Coast of Ruegen Island with Shepherd" during a time of great social and political change in Europe, a time when Romanticism was taking hold. Friedrich, living after the French Revolution and during the Napoleonic Wars, infused his landscapes with a deep sense of national identity and longing. Here, we see a lone shepherd with his dog, standing on the precipice of the island, gazing out towards the horizon. This image of the shepherd evokes themes of solitude and contemplation, key aspects of Romanticism. But consider the shepherd not just as a figure in a landscape, but as a symbol of the individual's connection to the land and to nationhood. "The artist should not only paint what he sees before him, but also what he sees within him," Friedrich once said, revealing his belief in the importance of personal experience and emotion. This piece invites us to reflect on our own place within the vastness of the world, and our connection to the land, and history.