Enlightenment in Music

                                                                 Romanticism in Art 

Romanticism was a time period at the end of the 19^th Century that accepted reason but valued emotions as well. Although it came about in a time when industrialization was a powerhouse, Romanticism embraced the awe of nature and the achievements of the individual. Unlike Enlightenment, which focused on the collective society as a whole, Romanticism focused on the dreamer and the individual. Romanticism valued exploration of dreams, imagination, and the ideas of the dreamer. Individuals, especially artists, were highly valued at this period in time for they were considered geniuses. Artists were unique, had endless potential, and had self-realizations through art. An extremely unique artist in the Romantic era was Caspar David Friedrich and he created the painting Wanderer Above the Sea of Mist. This image is the perfect embodiment of Romantic ideas for it captures the thoughts of a dreamer, the awe of nature, and the artist’s ability to be unique.

In this image one is first drawn to the man standing in the middle of the painting. He is standing on a boulder, with his back to the viewer, looking out at a vast and wondrous mountain landscape. This view of the man in the painting expresses the idea of the individual, an individual who is experiencing a personal encounter with nature. There is one person in this painting and his view of the mountains is his own point of view of nature and the world. With his back to us, he is inviting us to look at the landscape through his eyes and share his personal experience. The way the man is standing on these tall rocks one can see that there are no boundaries to his view. He is at the top of these mountains looking at all that there is to see and beyond. The sky and the fog help enhance the beauty and awe of nature and convey that there are endless possibilities for the dreamer. The individual has no boundaries and the sky is the limit. He can do, dream, and become whom he wants to be if he just explores, dreams, and discovers. The sky and the mountains highlight nature and the belief that nature is important and should be revered. Romantics believed nature was a source of mysticism. Nature was awesome, powerful, and overwhelming. It was believed to be so much more powerful than humans and it could not be controlled. However, in the Romantic period, nature fascinated artists and individuals. Nature also allowed an escape for man from industrial times and allowed man to be free from man made things. Nature freed people allowing them to be aware of beauty and to dream, as this painting suggests.