253 tory”, to the duke in 1792.50 The inclusion of von Scharnhorst’s name suggests that Friedrich envisaged his painting as a memorial to the Wars of Liberation of 1813. Friedrich’s design for a monument in 1814 was also to be dedicated to von Scharnhorst, but it was never built and its place was, in a sense, taken by a painted monument instead. Friedrich emphasised this connection when he exhibited the painting at the Berlin Art Exhibition of 1826, stating that the proceeds from its sale were “intended for the needy among the Greeks,”51 referring to the Greek War of Independence. Friedrich was probably inspired by a benefit concert held in Reimer’s garden as well as an exhibition “for the benefit of the Greeks”, that had attracted public attention in Berlin.52 Greece’s struggle against Ottoman rule resonated with advocates of other political causes closer to home, such as preserving the memory and fervour of the Wars of Liberation and the fight for civil freedoms during the Restoration. With regard to their political and social themes, Friedrich’s landscape paintings transcend the genre, bringing them closer to themes usually found in history painting. This is particularly true for his painting Dolmen in Autumn (fig. 1, p. 317), his reception piece53 to the Dresden Academy, which he was supposed to have submitted upon becoming a member in 1816, but which he only eventually presented to the Academy in the early 1820s. The special importance he attached to this painting can be seen in the amount of time he presumably spent on it, but also by the fact that he presented a landscape as a history painting, thus elevating it in the hierarchy of genres. This must have been particularly 4 Caspar David Friedrich Gateway in Meissen 1827 | CAT 176 5 Caspar David Friedrich Hutten’s Grave 1823/1824 | CAT 157
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTMyNjA1