The Abbey in the Oakwood
1809–1810 · Oil on canvas · Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
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About this work
- Artist
- Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840)
- Year
- 1809–1810
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 110.4 × 171 cm
- Collection
- Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
- Movement
- Romanticism
A procession of monks carries a coffin through a snowy graveyard towards the ruined Gothic facade of an abbey, its single remaining window open to the sky, while leafless oaks claw upwards out of the mist. The sun has set; the evening star and a crescent moon hang over the ruin, and the lower part of the picture sinks into fog. Friedrich based the ruin on Eldena Abbey near his native Greifswald. He painted the picture in Dresden in 1809 and 1810 as the pendant to The Monk by the Sea and showed the pair at the Berlin Academy exhibition of 1810, where the Prussian king bought them at his son's urging. Friedrich wrote that he meant to depict the mystery of the grave and of the future. Both canvases hang together today in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Monks carrying a coffin through snow toward a ruined abbey under a crescent moon, a sombre winter picture for a study, hallway or den at 36×24 in black. Charcoal, deep green or grey; hang it beside Monk by the Sea as Friedrich showed them.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Romanticism painting
- Era
- 19th century (1809–1810)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- dramatic, moody
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 36×24. Prints at 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard; 36×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Abbey in the Oakwood in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Abbey in the Oakwood painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.






























