It is the epitome of romanticism: in European cultural history, the moon has been associated with longing, melancholy, and sentimentality to this day. This perception has its roots in the period around 1800, when artists—in Germany, among other places—discovered the moon as an important motif in their work. Numerous references in the literature, music, and visual arts of that time identify it as a central subject of Romantic thought.
Surprisingly, however, this motif in the visual arts around 1800 has not yet been studied in depth. The exhibition at the Kurpfälzisches Museum now focuses on it for the first time: How—and why—did the moon become the dominant visual motif of German Romanticism? What artistic interests are associated with its depiction? What cultural-historical phenomena does it make tangible, and through which artistic means are they translated into the artwork?
The exhibition is part of the themed year “Moon-Struck on the Rhine and Neckar.”
Surprisingly, however, this motif in the visual arts around 1800 has not yet been studied in depth. The exhibition at the Kurpfälzisches Museum now focuses on it for the first time: How—and why—did the moon become the dominant visual motif of German Romanticism? What artistic interests are associated with its depiction? What cultural-historical phenomena does it make tangible, and through which artistic means are they translated into the artwork?
The exhibition is part of the themed year “Moon-Struck on the Rhine and Neckar.”
