Summer

This peaceful landscape captures the gentle rolling hills of the German countryside during the warmest season of the year. A towering poplar tree stands as the painting's central figure, reaching skyward while a smaller, rounder tree keeps it company on the right. Below them, barely visible among the bushes, two small figures rest in the grass, reminding us of the human presence in this vast natural setting.

Caspar David Friedrich, one of Germany's most important Romantic painters, created this work as part of a series depicting the four seasons. Rather than filling the canvas with dramatic mountain peaks or stormy skies (which he was certainly capable of), Friedrich chose a quieter moment here. The soft light and hazy atmosphere suggest a warm summer day, with the distant valley stretching out beneath a pale sky. The composition draws your eye from the dark hillside on the left, across the fertile plains, to the gentle mountains in the distance, creating a sense of depth and tranquility that invites contemplation.