Landscape painting was at its height in the 19th century; it was a main motif for many European artists, but with very different approaches. In Germany, the Romantic painters, like Caspar David Friedrich (b. 1774; d. 1840), depicted landscapes of expeditions overseas or inland journeys to faraway lands. But often, these were mixed with yearning and nostalgia for their homeland. Their main concerns were rendering beauty and the sublime, conveying the overwhelming feeling of man confronting the forces of nature and its vastness.

Caspar David Friedrich
The Cemetery Gate, ca. 1825–30
Oil on canvas, 31 x 25 cm
Kunsthalle Bremen - Der Kunstverein in Bremen. Gift, Galerieverein, 1933