Elias cemetry
Caspar David Friedrich (Greifswald 1774–1840 Dresden), the most important painter of Dresden Romanticism, entered art history with his landscape paintings and nature studies. Far less well known, however, is the fact that between 1805 and 1828 he produced numerous designs for grave monuments, of which 32 sheets have survived to this day. Friedrich’s interest in grave monuments and memorial stones - also a theme in several of his paintings - probably developed through his friendship and collaboration with the sculptor Christian Gottlieb Kühn (1780–1828 Dresden). Around 1805, Friedrich began to draw designs for tombs and memorial stones, based on classicist forms. They feature floral or ornamental decorations, along with sculptural religious symbols that reflect a revival of medieval traditions. Friedrich’s grave designs were not conceived for specific individuals but served as model sheets, which could be executed in stone by a sculptor as required. Of the four grave monuments on the Elias Cemetery that were created after Friedrich’s designs, only one is attributed to Christian Gottlieb Kühn as sculptor. The other tombs are believed to be his work.
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