Mountainous Landscape

Mountain scenes were a favourite motif with Romantic artists. They showed the grandeur and vitality of the natural world, expressed awe at the immensity of creation, and examined the relationship between man and nature. Count Adolf Czapski (1819–1883), the marshal of the nobility of the Kaunas Governorate, painted one such Romantic mountainous landscape. Although he received his art education from Berlin Academy of Art, Czapski saw himself as an amateur artist, painting exclusively for his own pleasure. He had a very Romantic sensibility, as is reflected in the Neogothic features of his house and the surrounding landscaped park in Beržėnai. The painting Mountain landscape is a view of the Bavarian Alps. The hostile and seemingly unscalable snowy peaks in the background contrast with the lower fir-covered hills in the foreground. In the centre, a shepherd on a path winding along the edge of a cliff tends several peaceful goats. The figures give the scene an intimacy and a liveliness, and emphasise the mystical alongside the natural beauty of the mountains. On the other hand, the contrast between the stability of the ageold rocks and the fragility of life gives the painting a deeper philosophical meaning. Text author Rūta Janonienė.