Focus on Hutten's Grave and analyze the Composition and symbolism.
In this work, Friedrich combines the political and religious in an overt manner that is unlike many of his previous works. The gothic ruin that serves as the setting for the image is based on a monastery in the German city of Oybin. The man in the image is wearing altdeutsch (old German) attire which grew popular during Napoleon's campaign as a symbol of anti-French sentiment. The style was also adopted by the Lützow Free Corps. Those who viewed the image at the time would have recognized this style and its political meaning. Friedrich's decision to depict the grave of Ulrich von Hutten was also political. Hutten was a German nationalist and a contemporary of Martin Luther. These values were very important to Friedrich, who wanted German unity and was a devout Lutheran himself. Several names and years are inscribed on the tomb: "Jahn 1813," "Arndt 1813," "Stein 1813," "Görres 1821," and "Scharnhorst.": 98  All of these men were contemporaries of Friedrich and all were German nationalist thinkers. Scharnhorst died in the Battle of Leipzig and the rest faced persecution and even exile for spreading liberal ideas. By combining the tomb of Hutten with the names of contemporary nationalist thinkers Friedrich linked together the past and present of German nationalist thinking. He also called attention to the repression of liberal ideas and what he saw as the failure of the regional elite to embrace reforms.Friedrich incorporates religious symbols with the political message. The most apparent is the headless statue of Faith in the background. Scholar have interpreted the figure as a symbol of mourning and as reference to the falling importance of religion. Other symbols that further emphasize the sense of death are the tomb and the dead tree in the foreground. The lancet windows have been interpreted to represent the outlines of Saints watching over both the tomb and man. Some scholars have pointed to the separation between the inside and outside of the ruin as representing the difference between Catholicism and Lutheranism respectively. The inside shows the old Catholic order as broken, while the expanse of the outside world, representing Lutheranism, gives a sense of freedom and hope.Strictly speaking, the figure in the image is not an example of a Rückenfigur; instead of being fully turned, he is half turned so that we are able to see his face. But the man functions in much the same way as a fully turned Rückenfigur, inviting subjective identification. The man here represents what Joseph Koerner has described as a "missed encounter with history" in which the future of German reunification can only be imagined through an unresolved relationship with the past.: 244
Napoleon Lützow Free Corps Lutheranism Ulrich von Hutten Rückenfigur altdeutsch monastery Lutheran lancet windows Arndt German nationalist Görres Saint Battle of Leipzig gothic Oybin Martin Luther Jahn Stein Napoleon's campaign Saints Joseph Koerner Catholicism Scharnhorst