03 — ARTWORK
Pilgrim in a Rocky Valley
- MEDIUM
- Oil on canvas, 28 x 22 cm
- TYPE
- Landscape
PALETTE
HOVER OR TAP A SWATCH FOR NAME, SHARE AND HEX. SAMPLED FROM THE IMAGE — INDICATIVE, NOT A PIGMENT ANALYSIS.
THIS REPRODUCTION DOWNLOAD THE FULL FILE ↓
- FILE
- 800 × 1058 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
Pilgrim in a Rocky Valley c. 1820 Oil on canvasA woven cloth used as a support for painting. The best-quality canvas is made of linen; other materials used are cotton, hemp, and jute. It is now so familiar a material that the word 'canvas' has become almost a synonym for an oil painting, but it was not until around 1500 that it began to rival the wooden panel (which was more expensive and took longer to prepare) as the standard support for movable paintings (the transition came later in Northern Europe than in Italy). Canvas is not suitable for painting on until it has been coated with a ground, which isolates the fabric from the paint; otherwise it will absorb too much paint, only very rough effects will be obtainable, and parts of the fabric may be rotted by the pigments. It must also be made taut on a stretcher or by some other means., 28 x 22 cm Nationalgalerie, Berlin
In this painting Carus adopted the view of a figure seen from behind which Friedrich had introduced; here he is hastening ahead of the viewer into the picture and anticipating his view.
In a Europe becoming remorselessly urban and industrial, the cloaked wanderer trudging away into high mountains with his pilgrim's staff, though painted in 1820, strikes a suitably symbolic farewell to the Romantic religion of nature.
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r33c71476706fa3,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {Pilgrim in a Rocky Valley by CARUS, Carl Gustav},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-09},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/carus-carl-gustav-rd674f3a09f7765/pilgrim-in-a-rocky-valley-r33c71476706fa3},
urldate = {2026-09-09},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-09. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
