Mountain View at Bormio 1869

John Singer Sargent captured this vista with watercolor. The mountains loom large, their peaks a testament to nature’s power, inspiring awe and reverence. Since antiquity, mountains have served as profound symbols, from Mount Olympus, the home of the Greek gods, to Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. In the East, mountains are revered as sacred spaces that connect the earthly and spiritual realms. Think of the meditative landscapes of Chinese Shan Shui paintings, where mountains embody the very essence of the cosmos. The Romantic painters of the 19th century, such as Caspar David Friedrich, also captured mountains, not just as physical features but as mirrors of the soul. They evoked feelings of solitude, introspection, and the sublime. Here, Sargent taps into this deep-seated human fascination, and the mountain becomes a conduit to deeper emotional and psychological states, reminding us of our place in the grand tapestry of existence. The echo of ages reverberates through this seemingly simple landscape.