Tree of crows

The Tree of Crows (also known as Raven Tree) is an oil painting by the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich, from 1822. Acquired by the Louvre in 1975 (the institution's first acquisition of a work by the artist, followed by Seaside by Moonlight in 2000), it has been called one of Friedrich's "most compelling paintings." The painting depicts a twisted oak tree, bare but for a few dead leaves, seen against an evening sky. An inscription on the back of the canvas refers to the hill at the painting's center as a Hünengrab, or dolmen, a prehistoric burial ground. In the distance can be seen the ocean, and Cape Arkona's chalk cliffs, a favorite subject of Friedrich's. Two crows are perched on the oak, while a flock (also known, more correctly, as a "murder") descends toward it. In the darkened foreground are a hacked trunk and the upright stump of another oak.

The oak is based on a drawing dated 3 May 1809, to which Friedrich added branche…

摘自英文维基百科「The Tree of Crows」（CC BY-SA 4.0），暂时没有中文条目。