03 — ARTWORK
The Goethe Monument
- MEDIUM
- Oil on canvas, 72 x 54 cm
- TYPE
- Landscape
PALETTE
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- FILE
- 900 × 1218 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
Carus was a great admirer of Goethe, who in turn highly appreciated both Carus's theoretical writings and his painting. Carus's painting of the Goethe monument is described in a contemporary journal as follows. "In a lonely rocky area stands Goethe's sarcophagusA coffin or tomb, made of stone, wood or terracotta, and sometimes (especially among the Greeks and Romans) carved with inscriptions and reliefs., and upon it a harp; moonlight falls through its strings, illuminating two angels who kneel reverently before it. Mists swirl around the basemolded foot of a pillar or column providing the transition from the plinth to the shaft. of the monument. It would seem that Goethe's manifold and magical contacts with Nature have inspired the ingenious artist to this Ossianic idea."
Goethe, who devoted himself so intensively to questions of the world and humanity, has been recast in Carus's picture into an unworldly and lonely Romantic figure. His imaginary grave evokes Romantic yearning in terms of an actual destination, an envisioned place of pilgrimage, an altar, a holy of holies.
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-r8b3369403118e2,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {The Goethe Monument by CARUS, Carl Gustav},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-13},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/carus-carl-gustav-rd674f3a09f7765/the-goethe-monument-r8b3369403118e2},
urldate = {2026-09-13},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-13. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
