Mountain Landscape with Rainbow
Mountain Landscape with Rainbow is a 1810 's painting by the German painter Caspar David Friedrich. It is now in the Museum Folkwang, Essen.
Image content
The painting shows the 619 -meter high Růžovský vrch ( German Rosenberg ) in the rechtselbischen Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic. Its almost circular cone shape makes it one of the most typical representatives of the mountains of northern Bohemia. The Růžovský vrch located in rechtselbischen part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, about 10 km north-east of Decin ( Decin ). At the foot of the mountain communities Růžová (Rose village) and Srbská Kamenice are ( Windisch- Kamnitz ).
The brightly lit figure in the foreground with her bright red pants and the jacket is a self portrait of Caspar David Friedrich. The painting is generally interpreted as an expression of the religious beliefs of the artist. The painter began the painting originally as a night scene and later added the rainbow, which leads to a contradiction. The light that shines through the clouds, obviously comes from the moon. A rainbow would, however, only during the day when the sun visible when the sun is behind the viewer. The rainbow was probably inserted by Caspar David Friedrich, to emphasize the symbolic meaning of the painting. The moon symbolizes the enlightenment of the world by Jesus Christ during the rainbow, the symbol of the reconciliation between God and man is. The cloud-shrouded valley between portraiture and the rose mountain in the background is a metaphor for the destiny of man, which can be passed only with God's help. The abyss in the foreground symbolizes death. The hat lying on the ground, a motif that repeatedly found in the work of Caspar David Friedrich, is the humility of the painter of nature and death. In contrast, the rock symbolizes the faith that gives him strength.
Background
In the work of Caspar David Friedrich, there is another work which bears the title landscape with rainbow. It was built in the period 1808-1810. Caspar David Friedrich wanted to portray with this painting the vision of the nature, in his poem shepherd's lament (1802 ) brought Johann Wolfgang von Goethe expressed. The painting was in the State Art Collection in Weimar and has been missing since 1945.