The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Old Man Before the Log Bridge

1819

Johann Christoph Erhard

(German, 1795–1822)
Germany, 19th century
etching
Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Prasse Collection 1969.243
Catalogue raisonné: Apell 92
Location: Not on view

Description

This print comes from a series of four etchings known as the "Salzburg landscapes with large figures." Johann Erhard used the setting of the figures in the landscape to hint at wider concerns. This composition of an elderly man approaching a bridge may be read as a metaphor for crossing the boundary between life and death. In Erhard’s oeuvre, the beauty of the landscape gives no assurance of a carefree way of life. His pessimistic outlook can be linked to his mental collapse and suicide in 1822.
  • Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 15-November 14, 2004).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 8/15/04-11/14/04. "Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century". No exhibition catalogue.
    Leona E. Prasse, Connoisseur and Curator. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 28-August 25, 1985).
    Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
  • {{cite web|title=Old Man Before the Log Bridge|url=false|author=Johann Christoph Erhard|year=1819|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.243