Plate five, from Radierversuche Possibly 1843 - 1844

Adolph Menzel made this print, titled *Plate five, from Radierversuche*, with etching. Menzel lived through a time of great social change in Germany. As industrialization progressed, many people began moving from rural to urban areas. Menzel, however, often depicted the countryside. He may have been drawn to the simple beauty of the landscape. Consider how this image is framed. The foreground is dominated by a mass of tangled grasses, and the buildings are relegated to the background, partially obscured. This emphasizes the wildness and untamed nature of the land. Menzel doesn’t seem interested in the traditional, pastoral scenes that were popular at the time. He seems to want to show the beauty of the everyday, in the ordinary. In his landscapes, Menzel captured the natural world with a sense of intimacy and immediacy, inviting viewers to connect with the land on a personal level.