El Capitan, Yosemite (Sentinel Rock) 1876

Hermann Herzog’s painting captures El Capitan in Yosemite, its majestic rock face dominating the landscape with an almost spiritual presence. The mountain, a symbol of permanence, echoes the ancient human fascination with heights and the divine. Across cultures, mountains have been seen as sacred spaces, the dwelling places of gods, or the axis mundi connecting heaven and earth. Consider Mount Olympus in Greek mythology or Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. The impulse to project spiritual significance onto towering natural formations appears again and again. Here, the emotional power of the sublime landscape engages us, stirring feelings of awe and humility. This painting, in its depiction of nature's grandeur, reveals a deep-seated human need to find meaning and transcendence in the world around us, a quest that continues to evolve through time.