Statue of the Madonna in the Mountains
Caspar David Friedrich (German, 1774-1840)
1804
View the original$26
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
This vast landscape by one of the central figures of German Romanticism dates from Caspar David Friedrich’s early years in Dresden, where he settled after studying in Copenhagen (then considered the artistic center of northern Europe). Subtly graded shades of gray wash evoke the gloomy, overcast days so common in Germany in November, when this image was created. The drawing also conveys, in the artist’s words, “Not only what he sees before him, but also what he sees within him.” In the center of the landscape, atop the highest peak, a tiny pilgrim kneels in prayer at the base of a statue of the Madonna. Nature—with its sheer, blank sky, stark hills, and mute firs—is depicted almost religiously. In this deeply spiritual image, humankind’s experience of nature seems as overwhelming as the unfathomable mystery of our existence. Just as the infinitesimal pilgrim wanders in this faraway, expansive landscape, so too did the artist embark upon his own Romantic quest, a search for meaning in the natural world that reveals the sacred.
- Medium
- Brush and black ink and gray wash, with graphite, on cream wove paper
- Original size
- 24.4 × 38.2 cm (9 5/8 × 15 1/16 in.)
Museum record · 2 owners · 4 exhibitions
Provenance
- Carl August Wuppesahl (1873-1954), Bremen, by 1936.
- Sold by Auctionhouse Dörling, Hamburg, to Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zürich, 1975; sold to the Art Institute, 1976.
Exhibitions
- Bremen, Germany, Kunsthalle Bremen, "Ein Halbjahrtausend deutscher Zeichnung," June 9-August 30, 1936.
- Wiesbaden, Germany, Städtisches Museum Wiesbaden, "Zeichenkunst in der deutschen Romantik," May-July 1937; also traveled to the Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden.
- Hamburg, Germany, Hamburg Kunsthalle, "Caspar David Friedrich 1774-1840," September 14-November 3, 1974, cat by Werner Hofmann, et al..
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Great Drawings from The Art Institute of Chicago: The Harold Joachim Years 1958-1983," July 24-September 30, 1985, cat. by Martha Tedeschi; also traveled to the St. Louis Museum of Art, March 10-May 17, 1986.
