More thoughts on works by Caspar David Friedrich from the Hermitage.
The Dreamer sits on a window ledge of a ruin. He is not inside the ruin nor is he outside the ruin. Inside the ruin are dead trees, while outside life thrives. The dreamer looks sideways, neither out of the ruin nor into the ruin. Is this not true of a dreamer, of someone who lives half in the metaphysical realm and half in the physical world. It is a delicate balance.
Morning in the Mountains, completed in 1821-1823, speaks of a misty, grand expanse.