Quell in einer Felsschlucht (Spring in a Narrow Gorge)  1881

by Arnold Böcklin

Symmetrically composed with high cliffs and dark trees framing an aperture of sky at the end of a gorge, this landscape features a single birch tree standing brilliantly green. [br] Even without human figures or animals, Böcklin's painting seems decidedly more symbolic than descriptive. Is this a representation of life's brevity or its eternity? Its meaning is veiled; the...
Credit: 
Courtesy of The Getty