Caspar David Friedrich - Wanderer above the sea of fog

• Title: Wanderer above the sea of fog (Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer)
• Artist: Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840)
• Date: c. 1817
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 98 x 74 cm

The “Wanderer above the sea of fog” shows a middle-aged man standing on top of a mountain, over a rocky precipice with his back to the viewer and gazing out on a landscape covered in a thick sea of fog which stretches out into the distance indefinitely. As he is on top, he has reached a summit. Yet, what lies ahead is mysterious and remains hidden.

This painting by Caspar David Friedrich has become the emblem of Romanticism, representing self-reflection or contemplation of life’s path, of the way forward, of all that can be done, of one’s own rapport to one’s life expectations, Nature and uncontrollable events.