In the Pyrenees (Dans les Pyrenees) 

Alphonse Legros created this landscape of the Pyrenees using etching, a technique that is perfect for capturing the starkness of these mountains. The tall, bare trees dominate the scene, their upward thrust hinting at a reaching, perhaps a yearning, towards the heavens. Think back to the ancient world, to the sacred groves of the Celts or the Germanic tribes. Trees were not merely timber, but living beings imbued with spirit and power, acting as intermediaries between the earthly and the divine. Notice how Legros has stripped them bare; their exposed forms evoke something akin to the flayed skin of Saint Bartholomew, an echo of martyrdom and sacrifice. Consider the landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich, where similar trees stand as witnesses to human insignificance before the vastness of nature. This motif—of trees as silent observers—reappears across centuries, each time imbued with the anxieties and aspirations of its age. It speaks to our collective memory, tapping into a primal understanding of nature’s enduring presence.