Donna davanti al sole al tramonto

Friedrich painted this small picture around 1818, in the quiet years after the Napoleonic wars, when many Germans were turning inward toward nature and faith. A woman stands with her back to us, arms slightly spread, facing a low sun that floods the sky in bands of gold and green. For Friedrich, who filled his landscapes with quiet religious feeling, that light carried the thought of God and of a life moving toward its close. Yet he never said whether the sun is rising or setting, and the museum in Essen and the curators who have borrowed the picture have disagreed to this day, one title pointing toward morning, the other toward evening. The narrow path she follows simply stops at her feet.