Solitary Tree

Friedrich painted "The Solitary Tree" (Der einsame Baum) in 1822, showing a massive oak standing alone in a meadow with distant mountains and a village. The oak tree, a symbol of Germanic strength and endurance, was a favorite motif of Friedrich's. The painting is paired with "Moonrise over the Sea," and together they represent day and night, summer and winter—the complementary cycles of nature that Friedrich saw as reflections of the divine order.

Friedrich renders the great oak with naturalistic precision, its spreading branches creating a complex silhouette against the luminous sky. The broad meadow and distant mountains are painted with the atmospheric subtlety that gives Friedrich's landscapes their meditative depth.