Symbolic Doubleness in German Romantic Painting: Tieck between Runge and Friedrich

Abstract

This paper aims at questionning the aesthetics of German Romanticism through a double point of view. On the one hand, I examine the philosophical sources and artistic studies of both Caspar David Friedrich and Philipp Otto Runge, the two most famous painters of that time ; on the other hand I propose a commentary on different works of Friedrich and Runge. I try to stress the unity and the diversity of the romantic painting at the same time. While Runge, inspired by Schelling and also by Tieck, goes the way of an allegory of the absolute, Friedrich goes the way of a more open perspectivism. I also show the important role played by Tieck’s novel Franz Sternbald Wanderungen in such a context, but not without stressing the differences between his plan and Runge’s plan.