Mountainous landscape

Executed circa 1885, this atmospheric study evokes the tripartite silhouette of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains, which Menzel would have seen during his travels in Switzerland in the summer of that year, during which he visited Interlaken, Bern and Lucerne. However, close inspection makes definite identification of the motif problematic. Suffice to say that here we are dealing with a dramatic Alpine horizon. The imposing subject is given life through the use of a very loose technique which gains its impact through the contrasts of light and dark: the vigorous black hatching of the trees contrasts with the white of the untouched paper and the soft stumped pencil of the clouds, to create an evocative suggestion of light diffused through cloud.