FRIEDRICH, Caspar David
(b. 1774, Greifswald, d. 1840, Dresden)

Graveyard under Snow

1826
Oil on canvas, 31 x 25 cm
Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig

A symbolic and heavy sadness lies over the Graveyard under Snow. We are now looking from inside the cemetery across the grave to the open gate, which is surrounded by a latticework of bare branches. The stormy sky is dead and empty. The open grave in the foreground has prompted much speculation. Some have suggested that it is intended as the future resting-place of the artist.