What it is
A man in a dark coat stands with his back to us on a rocky summit, looking out over mountains rising from a sea of fog.
What it represents
The moment before the next step. Friedrich's wanderers face the unknown, and we are invited to stand where they stand.
The symbolism
Fog is uncertainty: the way ahead is not visible, and the view is magnificent anyway. The turned back makes the picture a mirror. It asks what you would see if you stopped hurrying long enough to look out.
Poems and letters beside it
poem
The World is Too Much with Us
William Wordsworth (1802)
A warning against spending our lives getting and spending. The wanderer turns his back on the crowd to look out over the mist.
poem
Know Thyself
Alexander Pope (1734)
A reminder that the proper study of a person is themselves. The wanderer stands above the fog and looks inward as much as out.
prose poem
On Self-Knowledge (from The Prophet)
Kahlil Gibran (1923)
The self is not found by searching outside it. The figure on the rock turns to look, and the mist begins to clear.
