Easter Morning, c.1828-1835

German Romanticism is represented in the museum’s collection by a masterpiece of its foremost exponent: Caspar David Friedrich. Easter Morning dates from the artist’s mature period, before the stroke he suffered on June 26, 1835, after which he abandoned oil painting to focus on watercolors and sepia ink drawings. The painting once belonged to Wilhelm Wegener, who described it in 1859: “Three women walk stiffly toward the cemetery early in the morning. Dawn has not yet broken, and the moon, high in the sky, still lingers though it no longer illuminates or casts shadows. The old trees by the path show buds, and green shoots in the fields have survived the winter. Nature celebrates its awakening.”
Friedrich’s landscapes, silent and deeply serene, carry symbolism alluding to life and hope, expressed through his personal iconography. In Easter Morning, the path invites the viewer to follow it; to facilitate this, the women seem to wait at the edge. The moon, still visible high above, contrasts with the cold light of dawn spreading across the horizon. The moon and dawn have been interpreted as symbols of death and life after death. Friedrich’s message of hope in this painting is a clear reference to the Resurrection.