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Caspar David Friedrich | Two Men Contemplating the Moon, 1825-30

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Title: Two Men Contemplating the Moon.
Artist: Caspar David Friedrich** (German, Greifswald 1774-1840 Dresden).
Date: ca. 1825-30.
Medium: Oil on canvas.
Dimensions: 13 3/4 x 17 1/4 in. (34.9 x 43.8 cm).
Classification: Paintings.
Current location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Credit Line: Wrightsman Fund, 2000.
Accession Number: 2000.51.



These two figures are seen from behind so that the viewer may participate in their communion with nature. They have been identified as Friedrich**, at right, and his friend and disciple August Heinrich (1794-1822).
Fascination with the moon ran high among the German Romantics, who regarded the motif as an object of pious contemplation.



This is the third version of one of Friedrich’s most famous compositions, of which the first was painted during Heinrich’s lifetime (1819; Gemäldegalerie, Dresden) and the second soon after his death (ca. 1824; Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin). | © The Metropolitan Museum of Art








Two Men Contemplating the Moon (German: Zwei Männer in Betrachtung des Mondes) is one of the best known paintings by Caspar David Friedrich**.
Friedrich painted several versions, and also a variant in which the two figures are a man and a woman (1835).
The 1819/20 version in the Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden is thought to be the original.
Samuel Beckett said that the work inspired his play Waiting for Godot.

Caspar David Friedrich** | Two Men Contemplating the Moon, Galerie Neue Meister, 1819-20
Caspar David Friedrich** | Man and Woman contemplating the moon, 1835

Due uomini che contemplano la luna (in tedesco: Zwei Männer in Betrachtung des Mondes) è uno dei dipinti più famosi di Caspar David Friedrich**.
Friedrich dipinse diverse versioni, ed anche una variante in cui le due figure sono un uomo e una donna, 1835.
La versione 1819/20 nella Galerie Neue Meister di Dresda è considerata l'originale.
Samuel Beckett ha detto che questa tela ha ispirato la sua opera Waiting for Godot.