Nature, The Sublime, and The Chasseur in the Forest The Romantic period was an era that revolutionized all facets of the arts, including visual arts, music, and literature. Romanticism defined the first half of the 19th century and brought about a love of nature during this time period. Partially a reaction to the scientific Age of Enlightenment, it ignored the scientific notions of nature that the Enlightenment figures proposed, and instead captured the awe and beauty of being enveloped by our natural world. Highly allegorical in substance, works during this time period relied heavily on drawing connections from Mother Earth and correlating it into how we has people can take a step back and rethink our own values, and showing the significance …show more content…
The setting is set in the outer edge of a forest on a winter night. The trees are tall and large, and the forest seemingly goes for eternity. A lone wandering Chasseur, a designation given to French light infantry, is staring at the elevated trees and the infinite path to his destination. The Chasseur seems to be contemplating his hesitation, and trying to gather to his courage to push forward on his path. The way Friedrich depicts nature in this setting is both eerie and unsettling, but also creates a sense of awe in the masterful surrounding in which this Chasseur finds himself uncertain. The trees could be liberating, but they could also be dark and dangerous. The Chasseur doesn’t know what to expect when embarking on his most dubious obstacle. The entire setting reinforces the authoritativeness that nature exhibits, and how nature enhances the senses and emotions that we as people connect to it. The pure subliming presence of the trees connecting to one another into a black void while progressively getting less and less clear as the eye reaches its peak depth of what it can distinguish. This piece is a prime example of how Friedrich shaped Romanticism’s fascination with the outside world, and how exactly people’s understanding of both their insignificance and nature’s significance is connected to how they perceive the