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Gothic Windows in the Ruins of the Monastery at Oybin

ca. 1828
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 807
This church, with its fine Gothic tracery, was founded in 1369, deserted in 1546, and later embraced as a motif by German Romantic artists. Carus visited in August 1820, making a drawing (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden) that served as a study for the painting. It depicts a vista through two windows—one on either side of the ruined choir—toward a pale morning sky and distant hill. In its starkness and opposition of dark and light, and with young trees referring to the cycle of life, the image invites both hope and meditation.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Gothic Windows in the Ruins of the Monastery at Oybin
  • Artist: Carl Gustav Carus (German, Leipzig 1789–1869 Dresden)
  • Date: ca. 1828
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 17 in. × 13 1/4 in. (43.2 × 33.7 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, 2005 Benefit Fund, and Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation and Eugene V. Thaw Gifts, 2007
  • Object Number: 2007.192
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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Study of a Willowherb; verso: Study of Two Cows, Carl Gustav Carus German, Graphite, brush and gray ink; verso: graphite
Study of a Willowherb; verso: Study of Two Cows
Carl Gustav Carus
1858 (?)
Atlas de Cranioscopie, 2 vols.
Multiple artists/makers
1843
View of the Courtyard of the Castle at Döben, Carl Gustav Carus German, Graphite and brush and brown wash
View of the Courtyard of the Castle at Döben
Carl Gustav Carus
1800–1869
The Old Admiralty in London, Carl Gustav Carus German, Graphite, and brown wash
The Old Admiralty in London
Carl Gustav Carus
1844 (?)
Schloss Milkel in Moonlight, Carl Gustav Carus German, Oil on canvas
Schloss Milkel in Moonlight
Carl Gustav Carus
ca. 1833–35

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