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Abbey among Oak Trees by Caspar David Friedrich
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Abbey among Oak Trees, 1809

Caspar David Friedrich

A ruined abbey and a funeral procession dissolve into winter fog.

A ruined Gothic abbey and bare, twisted oaks loom over a funeral procession in winter mist. Friedrich's bleak, hushed image is Romantic melancholy distilled — death, faith and nature merged in cold, unforgettable atmosphere.

What you're looking at

It has a partner. This and The Monk by the Sea were painted as a pair, shown together in Berlin in 1810 and bought together by the Prussian king — the monk stands before an empty sea, and here he is being carried into the ground. The ruin is Eldena Abbey near Greifswald, a real building Friedrich drew all his life. The oaks are leafless and the light is nearly gone.

On a Frame TV

About 1.56:1. The clean crop takes the top of the ruin, so use the matted file. Extremely dark and low in contrast — a winter picture for an unlit room, and close to a black panel in daylight.

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