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This was the first painting by Friedrich, one of the principal figures of German Romantic art, to enter a British public collection when it was purchased by the National Gallery in 1987. A man, having cast aside his crutches, lies against a large boulder in a snowy landscape as he prays in front of a shining crucifix protected by three fir trees – a trinity that recalls the Christian Trinity of God the Father, Christ and the Holy Ghost. The silhouette of a German Gothic cathedral or church looms in the mist, its facade and spires echoing the shapes of the trees. The picture appears to be a companion to another painting, of the same date and title, in the Staatliches Museum, Schwerin. In the Schwerin picture, a similar tiny figure, leaning on a crutch, stares at a deserted snow-covered landscape under a grey-black sky as he wanders among dead or dying oak trees.
Title
Winter Landscape
Date
probably 1811
Medium
Oil on canvas
Measurements
H 32.5 x W 45 cm
Accession number
NG6517
Acquisition method
Bought, 1987
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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