Sheet of ice 

Philipp Rumpf created this "Sheet of Ice", currently at the Städel Museum, with strokes of gray and white to convey the frigid essence of a frozen landscape. The ice motif, a powerful symbol across cultures, often evokes the idea of stasis or dormancy. Think of the Norse myths where ice giants represent primordial forces of chaos, or, closer to our time, the frozen river in Caspar David Friedrich’s works as a metaphor for life’s stagnation. The recurring image of ice connects deeply with the human psyche, it echoes the Freudian "id", a realm of repressed desires. Observe how the cool palette and horizontal composition evoke a sense of stillness, but beneath, a palpable tension simmers, an anticipation of thaw, of change. This visual symbol, the sheet of ice, is a perpetual motif in the theater of human expression, forever alternating between dormancy and catharsis.