Gothic Cathedral near water

1823

Karl Friedrich Schinkel (and August Wilhelm Julius Ahlborn)

In preparing for a convincing rendition of a gothic cathedral and its backlit silhouette, Schinkel produced a number of sketches.  The bold execution, which combines an angular structure with spiritual effects, hints at a new gothic style that Schinkel would later realize as a celebrated architect.  Schinkel comments thus: “For a long time, architecture had explore the art of creating vaults, and the Germans in particular have seized this architectural design with primal force and freedom; soon they began to adapt vaulted structures for the purpose of expressing conceptions that are grounded both in the primal spiritual longing of the German people and in the conceptions of Christianity.  Thus the spirit completely vanquished merely inert matter.”  The present canvas was the first in a series of depictions of cathedrals in which Schinkel aimed to represent Germany’s political and religious situation.   The collapse of the old Reich (in 1806) and the Napoleonic occupation (1803-1813) prompted the Romantics to idealize the Middle Ages as the very embodiment of national unity and strength, a fantasy tailored to present exigencies.  Like a monument, the gothic cathedral and its four towers rear above the massive rock formation that is surrounded by water.  The setting sun illumines the structure’s Western façade, which faces away from the viewer.  The semi-transparent structure permits us to glimpse the light yellow and rose-colored clouds that are being approached by threatening storm-clouds from the North.  Meanwhile, a great diversity of architectural styles reminiscent of Gothic and Renaissance forms characterizes the ambient town, while a bridge on the right leads into a part of town distinguished by antique temples and classicist buildings.  Schinkel created this canvas in two versions in 1813 and 1814, both of which were lost in 1931 and 1945, respectively.  The present painting is a copy that Wilhelm Ahlborn had been commissioned to produce in 1823. 

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