ABBEY IN THE OAKWOOD (c.1809) by CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH
ABBEY IN THE OAKWOOD captures the essence of the sublime. It’s not a happy picture. Death dominates the image, the crumbling tombstones, the dark clothes, the barren trees, and the destroyed buildings. Everything is decaying or dead. But all is not lost. The references to death and ruin are self-evident and undeniable, but there are other transcendental references to think about.
The painting shows the ruins of the ABBEY against the winter sunset with the pale moon rising above the horizon. Time is explored on a HUMAN SCALE, on a NATURAL SCALE, and on an ETERNAL SCALE. The ruins of the ruined ABBEY represent the HUMAN SCALE. Architecture is a human endeavor, just as this Gothic ABBEY, time can be mean to humanity’s achievements.
The large window shows that the ABBEY once had a bright stained glass façade; a roof once covered the interior; walls once encircled the parishioners; but now, all of this is in tatters.The ABBEY also symbolizes the various stages of human history; however, the ABBEY IN THE OAKWOOD now symbolizes this mighty age as passed and decaying.
The dark sunset and the cold landscape remind us of nature's daily and seasonal cycle. Every day has a sunset; every year has a winter. The sun goes down and the seasons change like clockwork. The sunset and the winter suggest the NATURAL SCALE which is much larger and longer than our HUMAN SCALE.
The moon is high above both the HUMAN and NATURAL SCALE. And this crescent moon in the painting symbolizes the ETERNAL SCALE. It is time on a universal scale. The phases of the moon started millions of years before the seasons and humans. It is essentially ETERNAL. The moon symbolizes the third and final time scale found in this piece.
ABBEY IN THE OAKWOOD was painted by CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH as a medium for the exploration of the human condition. In this painting, the landscape takes on a spiritual dimension and shows us that we are only one moment in a natural and eternal time frame. There are hints of renewal and rebirth.