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The Abbey in the Oakwood (German: Abtei im Eichwald) is an oil painting by Caspar David Friedrich. It was painted between 1809 and 1810 in Dresden and was first shown together with the painting The Monk by the Sea in the Prussian Academy of Arts exhibition of 1810. On Friedrich's request The Abbey in the Oakwood was hung beneath The Monk by the Sea.[1] This painting is one of over two dozen of Friedrich's works that include cemeteries or graves.[2]

The Abbey in the Oakwood
German: Abtei im Eichwald
Artist	Caspar David Friedrich
Year	1809–10
Medium	Oil on canvas
Dimensions	110 cm × 171 cm (43.3 in × 67.3 in)
Location	Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin

After the exhibition both pictures were bought by king Frederick Wilhelm III for his collection.[3] Today the paintings hang side by side in the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

Description

This large painting is an example of a way Friedrich uses his painting skills to represent human life issues. In the painting, Friedrich painted an old abbey in the center. There are figures entering the abbey with a coffin. The artist is trying to convey a sense of passage of time by painting a human passing away. There is a sense of coldness around the area. The remains of the abbey show a broken window with no remaining glass. What is seen is that nature is there forever, while man's creation is temporary.

A procession of monks, some of whom bear a coffin, head toward the gate of a ruined Gothic church in the center of the painting. Only two candles light their way. A newly dug grave yawns out of the snow in the foreground, near which several crosses can be faintly discerned. This lower third of the picture lies in darkness—only the highest part of the ruins and the tips of the leafless oaks are lit by the setting sun. The waxing crescent moon appears in the sky.

Development

The picture appeared at a time when Friedrich had his first public success and critical acknowledgment with the controversial Tetschener Altar. Although Friedrich's paintings are landscapes, he designed and painted them in his studio, using freely drawn plein air sketches, from which he chose the most evocative elements to integrate into an expressive composition. The Abbey in the Oakwood is based upon studies of the ruins of Eldena Abbey, which reappear in several other paintings.[4] The same trees, in slightly altered forms, can also be seen in other works.

Eldena Abbey may well have had personal meaning for Friedrich, as it was destroyed during the Thirty Years War by invading Swedish troops, who later used bricks from the abbey to construct fortifications.[4] In the painting Friedrich draws a parallel between those actions and the use of Greifswald churches as barracks by occupying French soldiers.[4] Thus, the funeral becomes a symbol of "the burial of Germany's hopes for resurrection".[4]

Friedrich may have begun work on The Abbey in the Oakwood in June 1809 after a stay in Rügen, Neubrandenburg.[5] On 24 September 1810, shortly before the Berlin Academy exhibition, Carl Frederick Frommann described the setting sun and half-moon of the nearly-finished painting.[6]

See also

• List of works by Caspar David Friedrich

Notes

External video
Friedrich's Abbey among Oak Trees, Smarthistory[7]
Friedrich's Monk by the Sea, Smarthistory[8]

References

• Boime, Albert (1993). Art in an age of Bonapartism, 1800-1815. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-06336-4.
• Friedrich, Caspar David: Die Briefe (2005, ed. and comm. by Herrmann Zschoche). Hamburg: ConferencePoint Verlag. ISBN 3-936406-12-X.
• Börsch-Supan, Helmut & Jähnig, Karl Wilhelm, 1973: Caspar David Friedrich. Gemälde, Druckgraphik und bildmäßige Zeichnungen. Munich: Prestel Verlag. ISBN 3-7913-0053-9
• Held, Heinz-Georg Held, 2003: Romantik. Cologne: Dumont. ISBN 3-8321-7601-2
• Schulze Altcappenberg, H. Th., 2006: An der Wiege der Romantik, Caspar David Friedrichs Jahreszeiten von 1803. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. ISBN 3-88609-561-4
• Wolf, Norbert, 2003: Friedrich. Cologne: Taschen. ISBN 3-8228-1958-1

This article is a translation of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia as of 21 November 2008

External links

• Media related to Abtei im Eichwald at Wikimedia Commons

На других языках

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[de] Abtei im Eichwald

Abtei im Eichwald, auch Mönchsbegräbnis im Eichenhain, ist ein zwischen 1809 und 1810 entstandenes Gemälde von Caspar David Friedrich. Das Bild in Öl auf Leinwand im Format 110,4 × 171 cm befindet sich in der Alten Nationalgalerie in Berlin und ist dort zusammen mit dem Mönch am Meer als Bildpaar zu sehen. Die beiden Bilder wurde erstmals auf der Berliner Akademieausstellung von 1810 gezeigt und vom preußischen König Friedrich Wilhelm III. erworben. Die Reputation des Ankaufs brachte dem Maler den Durchbruch zum Ruhm.[1] Die Abtei im Eichwald bezeichnete Carl Gustav Carus 1825 als „vielleicht das tiefsinnigste poetische Kunstwerk aller neuen Landschaftsmalerei“.[2] Seit 2016 wird das Werk nach eingehenden Restaurierungsmaßnahmen neu präsentiert.[3]

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- [en] The Abbey in the Oakwood

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[es] Abadía en el robledal

Abadía en el robledal (en alemán, Abtei im Eichwald) es un conocido cuadro del pintor romántico alemán Caspar David Friedrich. Data del año 1809. Se trata de un óleo sobre tela que mide 110,4 centímetros de alto por 171 centímetros de ancho. Actualmente se conserva en la Antigua Galería Nacional de Berlín, Staatliche Museen de Berlín (Alemania).

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[fr] L'Abbaye dans une forêt de chênes

L'Abbaye dans une forêt de chênes (en allemand : Abtei im Eichwald) est un tableau du peintre allemand Caspar David Friedrich, réalisé vers 1809-1810 et exposé à la Alte Nationalgalerie de Berlin à côté du Moine au bord de la mer. À la demande de Friedrich, L'Abbaye fut accrochée au-dessous du Moine au bord de la mer[1]. Après l'exposition, les deux œuvres furent achetées par le roi Frédéric-Guillaume III pour sa collection personnelle[2].

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[it] Abbazia nel querceto

Abbazia nel querceto (Abtei im Eichwald) è un dipinto a olio su tela del pittore romantico tedesco Caspar David Friedrich, realizzato nel 1810 e conservato all'Alte Nationalgalerie di Berlino.

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[ru] Аббатство в дубовом лесу

Аббатство в дубовом лесу (нем. Abtei im Eichwald) — картина, написанная немецким художником Каспаром Давидом Фридрихом в период с 1809 по 1810 годы в Дрездене. Работа была впервые показана вместе с другой картиной Каспара Фридриха «Монах у моря» (нем. Der Mönch am Meer) в Берлинской Академии художеств во время выставки 1810 года. По просьбе художника она была повешена прямо под «Монахом у моря»[3].

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