Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon

Caspar David Friedrich is most famous for landscape scenes in which figures are placed in the foreground, looking over the same stunning scene as those viewing the painting.

Man and Woman Contemplating the Moon is another example of this signature style and also makes use of the artist's memorable depictions of trees, with a large trunk dominating the right hand side of this composition. Colour is reduced to darker tones in order to create this feeling of twilight as a couple look in into the distance. The tree itself may have symbolic value, with its roots appearing above the ground and it also leans comfortably to the right. All its foliage is also missing, though the other tree to the left looks far more healthy and in-season.

Friedrich would always create perspectives where humans were the supporting cast to the awe-inspiring natural world. It is a little similar to members of the Hudson River School, such as Cole, Church and Bierstadt, who served a similar role in promoting the beauty of the American landscape. Indeed, some members of this group had ancestry roots in Germany themselves. JMW Turner was a British Romanticist who produced similarly impressive displays of light as you see in Friedrich's work here but he also took on a number of notable seascapes during his career too. Whilst having many similarities, very few other artists ever depicted humans within their landscapes, perhaps sometimes adding a few deer or other animals in order to add perspective instead. In terms of German Romanticism, Friedrich was certainly the most important artist and remains highly respected today, right across the western world.