Reef by the Seashore

Giantism in a tiny format. Only when you discover the trees in the foreground and set them in relation to the rocks of the reef, can you imagine the dimensions that the artist has put down here on less than half a square meter of canvas. Friedrich captures the sublime, the nocturnal loneliness, the vastness of nature through composition, colour, and light. Danger at sea, hope of reaching a harbour — the way the painting triggers thoughts and feelings and facilitates religious interpretations is a characteristic par excellence of the work of the Romantic painter.