Night Travellers at a Cross, Again

9/20/2024

I posted this painting about five years ago, but I happened to revisit it the other day and thought it deserved a repost.

László Mednyánszky - 1880

5 Comments

bruce g charlton

9/20/2024 21:58:15

I found it easier to see the larger image at Wikipedia, which is also displayed against a black (not white) background:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Travellers_at_a_Cross

Certainly a striking picture, with a numinous quality reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich.

Francis Berger

9/21/2024 06:04:19

@ Bruce - Numinous is the perfect word to describe the quality the painting evokes. And yes, it is reminiscent of Friedrich in that sense.

Whenever I look at this painting, I always find myself wondering where the travellers are going and why they are travelling at night.

Apropros the cross, these sorts of crosses can still be found in fields and woodlands in this part of the world. Oftentimes, statues as well. Most were erected in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Laeth

9/21/2024 12:10:32

this is one of those that immediately evokes the feeling that there's a good story to tell.

NLR

9/22/2024 18:45:17

That's a good one. I can't tell whether it's a crescent moon or partially covered by clouds, but the obscured moon through clouds and trees gives the scene a mysterious quality.

NLR

9/23/2024 03:54:36

Here's a nighttime scene by Carl Gustav Carus, who was a student of Caspar David Friedrich. The clear full moon gives it a different feel:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Oil_paintings_by_Carl_Gustav_Carus#/media/File:Carl_Gustav_Carus_-_Mondschein_%C3%BCber_dem_Hof_einer_gotischen_Kirche.jpg

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Night Travellers at a Cross, Again

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