The article will provide a synopsis of the research on the reconstructed spatiality in Caspar David Friedrich’s paintings, in which he displayed the spatiality of a church reminiscent of the real-world church in Eldena Abbey. In the following, I will first provide an overview of the research topics related to the discipline of Digital Humanities, as well as an analysis of how Digital Art History has become a breakthrough discipline within this field. I will describe how 3D modelling, 3D digital reconstruction and digital methodologies can be scientifically reliable tools for the analysis of paintings. Those digital tools can be also effective for the visualisation and appreciation of the painting itself in order to enable the observers to experience the representation in a different framework (see the third section of the article).

Thus, this article highlights the importance of 3D modelling as a tool for a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the architectural spatiality of the paintings depicting the church of Eldena. The methodology presented aims to analyse, through a proportional benchmark defined as the ratio between two main measurements of the nave of the represented church (in this case the width of the intercolumniations and pillars), the spatial arrangement of the architectural subject depicted by the German painter. The results consequently show the spatial arrangement proceeding in the depth of the space represented by Friedrich.

Before analysing the research process in detail, it is worthwhile to introduce the discipline of Digital Humanities and Digital Art History, and to illustrate how this discipline has established itself within the study of literature and painting, with different results and purposes.

The study of Romanticism can be approached from a diverse array of disciplines, each of which has in turn been influenced to varying degrees by Romantic ideas.

For this reason, even the field of Digital Humanities has made forays into research on Romanticism. A primary aim was to determine whether the use of digital tools could facilitate the identification of new avenues or assist in emphasizing specific aspects related to the various manifestations of Romantic culture within the humanities.

Consequently, the potential for studying literature, paintings and other forms of Romantic cultural expression through digital tools lies in the manner in which we learn, analyse, study and comprehend pivotal Romantic topics.

The work of German painter Caspar David Friedrich, too, has been researched in its various facets, ranging from interpretation of his symbology to his conception of spatiality. In the latter half of the 20th century, the emergence of disciplines with a focus on analysing and pursuing topics related to the humanities, but employing methodologies drawn from the field of computer science, has led to the emergence of new approaches to and new perceptions of the analysed topics. In this context, the possibility of studying the work of Caspar David Friedrich through a tool such as digital 3D modelling provides the opportunity to gain insight into the characteristics of the spatial composition created by Friedrich within his works. This allows the identification of compositional patterns in his representation of architectural space.

For starters, it is worthwhile to provide a concise overview of the field of Digital Humanities itself. Humanistic Informatics, first theorised by Roberto Busa in 1949 as a sub-discipline of Computational Linguistics, deals with the boundary between computer science and its application in the analysis of subjects in the humanities. [1] However, the assumption that computer science is merely an auxiliary tool for analysing humanities topics is too narrow, as it does more than merely introduce methods of investigation and analysis particular to computer sciences to other disciplines. [2] In the Digital Humanities, a central aspect from a scientific point of view is the fact that researchers not only seek to gain a deeper understanding of the topic under analysis, but also to develop original methodologies of analysis drawing on IT disciplines or computerised technologies suitable for subjects that do not usually fall under their purview. This leads to both  the creation of new scientific knowledge and, through the creation of new analytical tools, to an enrichment of the analysis of the subject matter. Furthermore, the Digital Humanities are frequently linked to the digital cultural heritage approach. These two subjects share common characteristics, including a research approach based on interdisciplinary collaboration. However, the topics and the research communities (and conference venues) to which these two subjects refer are different.

Indeed, Busa’s 1949 study discusses the manner in which disciplines related to the Digital Humanities are being adopted by various national scientific communities, as well as the subjects on which they are focusing. Another issue discussed in the article relates to the extent to which different higher education institutions have embraced the idea of creating undergraduate or graduate courses in disciplines related to the Digital Humanities. This study [3] was born out of the need to understand how to create a didactic space specific to this discipline, which is still difficult to define. On the one hand, this is a great opportunity for researchers from different disciplines to contribute in this field of research, on the other hand, there is a lack of scientific and didactic ‘outline’ of this discipline.

Indeed, in many cases, the Digital Humanities are not only concerned with the cultural manifestations of the subjects studied, but also with developing new research impulses through the use of multimedia analysis tools and instruments that can help to bring entirely new dimensions of, for instance, Romanticism to the fore. The development of research methods that combine the use of digital tools with Romantic culture has the potential to yield previously unexplored insights. Furthermore, it can facilitate a more streamlined interaction between the user and the subject matter. This is achieved through the possibility of enhancing the immediacy of the interaction and the integration of the examined topic through an interface that allows the user to access the research result. This opportunity for sharing and communicating knowledge allows scholars to obtain textual and graphical research resources in a more straightforward manner.

What are the potential benefits of digital technologies for research in the field of Romanticism?

The use of a computer-based methodology for analysing topics related to the humanities and in particular to Romanticism can prove useful in a number of contexts. For instance, in museums, the use of interactive maps and other technologies can enrich the experiential component. This type of visualisation also enables an understanding of the intertwined biographies of authors and their respective works, which could lead to a deeper understanding of the relationships between different authors and artists and how these relationships influenced their poetics. This is just one of the ways in which digital tools can be of significant assistance in the research on and communication of Romanticism, encompassing fields as diverse as painting, literature, and history.

One particular tool that could facilitate the communication of a dataset in order to establish connections between different authors and artists associated with the Romantic period is Palladio. Palladio is an online service (provided by Stanford University’s Office of the Digital Humanities at the NEH, CESTA, and the Stanford University Libraries: https://hdlab.stanford.edu/palladio/) that enables users to visualise a cluster of data through several methods of representation (interactive maps, graphs, gallery views and more), thereby making the dissemination of knowledge more straightforward.

The utilisation of digital technologies in the analysis of artworks and its use in the museum experience

The introduction of digital tools and the creation of databases by foundations, museums, and other institutions with a focus on outreach has led to the rapid dissemination of tools such as Palladio. This has, in turn, enabled the creation of a new discipline, namely Digital Art History. This subject is based on the use of digital methodologies, tools and solutions in order to work at the nexus of art history, science communication, and didactics.

It is, however, important to take account of the distinction drawn by Johanna Drucker between ‘Digital Art History’ and ‘Digitized’ Art History in her article “Is there a ‘Digital’ Art History?” [4] This distinction highlights a fundamental aspect of the subject: the author defines ‘Digitized’ Art History as those studies oriented towards the cataloguing, dissemination and digitization of artworks for the creation of online databases in order to make works of art available to users. In contrast, ‘Digital Art History’ refers to the use of computer-based techniques for the purpose of analysing art history and its study principles. [5]

One of the first Digital Art History projects in Germany, (2018), takes up the reasoning used by Aby Warburg in his Mnemosyne Atlas. For this unfinished project, the German scholar collected images, drawings and other kinds of graphical artworks, and clustered them in groups in relation to the pattern or the type of  concept they represented. The images were taken from representations belonging to different centuries, and the research resulted in an excursus on the representation of the concept and compositional pattern through the history of art.[6] A Digital Art History research group from the University of Heidelberg deployed the same reasoning to develop an image repository based on the connection between compositional patterns and semantic value of the representation (e.g., in charts, carvings etc.).

The research group focused on various medieval manuals (Codex Manesse and Sachsenspiegel) and their iconographic apparatus, in order to create an online interface that would allow the images of the Sachsenspiegel to be systematised using the studies carried out on the Codex Manesse in terms of the contours of the images and the meaning of the resulting representation. In particular, the match between the contours and the meaning of the representation were then used to attribute a theme and meaning to the graphical apparatus of the Sachsenspiegel. These motifs are then designed as a method for clustering and retrieving the images in the web interface. [7]

Other works have addressed the reconstruction of pictorial space in three dimensions. Among these, it is particularly worth mentioning one that undertook the reconstruction of Piero della Francesca’s painting Flagellation of Christ as an example of application of a methodology for reconstructing three-dimensional space from a single image (in this case, a painting). [8]

This methodology, as described by Liebowitz et al., reconstructs the spatiality, position, and dimensions of an element within a scene by modelling the geometrical constraints of a three-dimensional view. [9] This approach offers a novel perspective on the subject.

It is crucial to consider the impact of digital technologies on the way artworks are experienced in museum settings. Especially the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated their digitisation processes, allowing for collections to be enjoyed remotely. [10] Among the most recent examples of digital technologies employed in exhibition installations is the immersive exhibition on Vincent Van Gogh, entitled Inside Van Gogh, currently on display in Erfurt (https://inside-vangogh.com/). This exhibition employs multimedia compositions to surround the visitor with the work of the Dutch painter, and through certain manipulations of Van Gogh’s works immerses the visitor in the scenes put to canvas by him. In the case of this exhibition, the three-dimensional compositions created by the organisers serve the primary purpose of combining Van Gogh’s work with the narrative of his life. To achieve this, the 3D reconstruction of certain elements of his works is employed with a markedly narrative purpose, thus enabling the biography of the painter to be approximated through his works.

It is also worth highlighting the potential for digital technologies in facilitating engagement with the iconographic heritage displayed in exhibitions, particularly in museum environments where their integration with art history can stimulate new forms of interaction. A team of researchers from the University of Florence has investigated the possibility of creating three-dimensional replicas of paintings using a bas-relief prototyping method, with the objective of enabling access to the works for visually impaired visitors. [11] Previously, plans had already been made to reconstruct the 3D space of some paintings. However, the realisation of these models had been commissioned to artists, [12] who predominantly created original adaptations of the works. [13] These adaptations were effectively unique pieces and therefore not easily reproducible. The possibility of having a digital 3D model that affords things such as printing it out makes transporting the model much more concrete and easier.

This study combines the methodology for reconstructing the three-dimensional space of paintings with their application in the museum environment, with the aim of reducing the experiential barrier between visually impaired people and paintings. [14]

The utilisation of digital 3D modelling as a tool for the analysis of paintings by Caspar David Friedrich

Romantic painters such as Caspar David Friedrich have already been used as the foundation of creating virtual reality scenarios, particularly based on their iconic landscapes. [15] It is still worth ascertaining, however, how the Digital Humanities methods can be beneficial for the expansion of the scientific discourse, particularly considering the variety of viewpoints that have characterised the discussion surrounding Friedrich and the interpretation of his works.

Digital 3D reconstruction of his paintings can provide insights into his compositional characteristics.

One of the most significant features of his works is the difficulty in reconstructing them from a dimensional and metric perspective. This leads to near infinite possibilities of defining reconstructive scenarios of Friedrich’s works due to infinite degrees of freedom with which a researcher can reconstruct the spatiality of his works. However, it is of course necessary to reflect on which degrees of freedom are the most effective for transposing the two-dimensional representation (Friedrich’s paintings) into a 3D modelling.

One of the most fascinating aspects to consider the potential of 3D modelling as an analytical tool when examining Friedrich’s works is that, by using it, we can gain insights into whether he defined a compositional-proportional pattern of three-dimensional space in a given painting, and how he consequently reproduced it within others.

The study at the centre of the following paragraphs has been published (and presented) in the Book of Abstract of the DH2024 Conference which took place in Arlington on 6-9 August 2024 [16]. It has been published in an extended version in January 2025 on MDPI Arts [17]. Most of the images and graphics in the following paragraphs were also published in those two places.

Some notable factors of what precisely 3D modelling can contribute beyond methods from the traditional humanities are the following:

• The utilisation of 3D modelling and the application of modelling software permits a comprehensive verification of the outcomes in a multitude of perspectives, including plan, elevation and perspective. This process simultaneously visualises the perspective of the painting as conceived by Friedrich and the spatial representation of the elements that comprise it.
• It is feasible to perform metric and dimensional measurements of the modelled objects in accordance with Friedrich’s representation. Moreover, data acquired from measuring the different reconstructive scenarios enables the formation of hypotheses concerning the painter’s compositional strategies.

For example, the illustrations in Figure 1 shows the reconstruction of one of Friedrich‘s most renowned paintings, Abbey in the Oakwood).

This painting has the invaluable feature of portraying an existing architectural structure, namely the ruins of Eldena Abbey near Greifswald. This allows us to use the measurements of the ruins as a benchmark and compare it to the pictorial architecture of Friedrich. Furthermore, this painting can be used to explore reconstruction scenarios. This allows us to gain insights into Friedrich’s architectural spatiality.

Spatiality is defined as the position of elements in three-dimensional space, the use of perspective, and the projection of the apparent contour of the depicted element onto the picture plane. 3D digital reconstruction makes it possible to reconstruct possible variants of the central nave of the church Friedrich painted. The ratio between the width of the columns and the intercolumnar distance can be used as a proportional benchmark. The analysis of the quantities of the ratio defines a particular compositional pattern that has been defined as ‘densification’ because in all the reconstruction scenarios analysed, the value of the ratio decreases as one moves towards the vanishing point. This means that the width of the columns increases (compared to the intercolumnar spaces) as we move into the depth of the space. A comparison of the reconstruction scenarios with the dimensions of the Monastery of Eldena as depicted by Caspar David Friedrich reveals a noteworthy discrepancy. This becomes particularly salient when we compare the reconstruction of Friedrich’s paintings with a Critical Digital Model of the real monastery in the 19th century, drawn from various historical sources. [18] (Figure 2).

The different reconstruction scenarios were created by varying the distance of the observer from the picture plane (the surface of the painting). For the painting Abbey in the Oakwood, five scenarios were constructed in which the distance of the observer was set to cover significantly different scenarios. The decision to use different reconstructive scenarios stems precisely from the fact that it is not possible to objectively define the dimensions of the elements represented in the painting. The idea of slavishly adopting the dimensions of Eldena Abbey for the reconstruction would not work for two main reasons:

• Eldena Abbey appears to be the basic reference for the painting, but the church depicted in the painting is not exactly the same as the church near Greifswald. This can be seen in the formal differences between the two churches. A striking example is the characterisation of the large window in the counter-façade of the church.
• Even if one of the measurements of the real-world Eldena Abbey is included in the reconstructed scenarios (as we will see later), the differences between the two spatialities are very large, and therefore it is not conclusive to use the measurements of the church to reconstruct the spatiality of the religious space in the painting.

The reconstruction scenarios of Abbey in the Oakwood (Figure 3).

First Reconstruction scenario: distance of the observer from the picture plane: 22,58m

The way in which the scenarios are defined, as mentioned above, is linked to the distance of the observer from the picture plane. Obviously, this does not allow the observer to be positioned in space with certainty, since it is necessary to first identify the vanishing point of the central perspective. Once the position of the vanishing point has been established, it is possible to identify a trail along which the observer will be moved in order to create the various reconstructive scenarios.

The first reconstruction scenario takes into account the viewer’s distance from the picture plane, 22.58 metres precisely. Once this was accomplished, the pillars themselves were reconstructed by following the apparent contours of the pillars drawn by Friedrich according to the pipeline developed for the reconstruction of the spatiality of the nave. By drawing each of the apparent contours, the dimension in space of the objects belonging to that particular reconstruction scenario is identified. Once this dimension has been defined, it is possible (assuming that all the columns have the same orientation) to identify the position of these columns in space, until the space of the nave itself can be identified. The pipeline is shown in Figure 4.

The values of the ratio between the width of the columns and the distance between them allow us to get an idea of Friedrich’s definition of space, which proceeds in the direction of the vanishing point. Since, for the reasons given above, the measurement cannot be taken from the Eldena church survey,  I decided to favour the proportional aspect in order to define the compositional patterns that Friedrich may have used in the representation of his church. Table 1 describes the first reconstruction scenario. These values obviously influence those of the ratios between the same quantities, which also tend towards a roughly constant decrease.

Such data illustrates how the spatial system created by Friedrich is structured with a progressive ‘densification’, which specifically means that the presence of ‘solids’ (the pillars) compared to ‘voids’ (intercolumniations, the spaces between the pillars) is easier to detect as one proceeds deeper into the space of the nave. Such ‘densification’ is identified by the gradual decrease in the value of the ratio between the two dimensions studied. Consequently, the ordered ratio between the two dimensions gradually decreases, so that the columns, rather than increasing in size, move progressively closer together (thus decreasing the values of the intercolumnar distances) as we proceed towards the vanishing point.

To understand whether this system of spatial structure was present in other scenarios, the observer was placed at different distances from the previous scenario and a new reconstruction was created.

Second Scenario: observer's distance of 13.20m.

In this case, the observer was positioned 13.20 meters above the picture plane. As can be seen, there is a trend in the dimensions of the column: The intercolumn and their ratio that is similar to the previous scenario, with some differences in the way the dimensions of the intercolumn and the columns change as we move deeper into the space.

With regard to the previously mentioned values, if one considers the intercolumniations, it can be seen from the table (Table 2) that their value decreases, as does the value of the ratio, but with an important difference with regard to sharpness, in the case of which this value decreases compared to the first scenario.

When comparing the two scenarios, it is striking that the value of the ratio in the first scenario falls below 1. This means that the values of the intercolumnar spaces in the first scenario, as we move from those close to the picture plane to those further away, fall below the values of the columns. In the case of the second scenario, it can be noticed that this is not the case and that the values of the intercolumniations decrease without falling below the values of the pillars. In this case, therefore, we can see that both the values of the intercolumniations and the ratio between the intercolumniations and the pillars decrease less (Figure 5)

Third Scenario: Critical Reconstruction of Eldena Abbey

The third reconstruction scenario consisted of reconstructing the ruins of Eldena in such a way as to recreate the situation from which Friedrich took inspiration for his artwork as closely as possible. We decided to do this in order to understand how far the spatiality of the reference used by Friedrich as an example for his architectural space diverged proportionally from the reconstruction of the architectural space depicted in his painting. The reconstruction was carried out according to the principles of the Critical Digital Model [19], using heterogeneous sources, both one-dimensional (texts) and two-dimensional (historical drawings, photographs and sketches). Particularly important among those sources were Balthasar's architectural survey of the ruins in 1857 [20], Friedrich’s own sketches throughout his life, the various chronologies of the history of the Eldena monastery compiled by both Pyl and Lissok and also in some sections of Kloer’s publication. The objective of the reconstruction was to complete the modelling of the church thanks to the synergy between these different sources. Archival photographs from different historical periods of the Eldena ruins allow us to obtain a complete reconstruction (with different degrees of reliability related to the sources) of the monastery ruins.

Below are a number of renderings of the modelling, which show how far the artist diverged from the reference to the church of Eldena in his painting Abbey in the Oakwood.

The values of the nave of such a reconstruction can be seen below Table 3.

It is important to note that the values of the reconstructed nave are much more regular than the values of the reconstructed scenarios in Friedrich’s painting. This assumption is not surprising, since the nave in the church of Eldena has rather similar values for the depth of the columns and the intercolumnar space, which means that the value of the ratio between these quantities is also rather regular.

This leads to a comparison with the reconstructive scenarios, which shows a significant discrepancy between the reconstructive scenarios and the critical reconstruction of Eldena Monastery. On the other hand, this also helps to quantify how far what Friedrich depicted might have deviated from the reality of the Eldena ruins at the time of his painting.

When comparing Eldena’s historical reconstruction with the reconstructed scenarios in Friedrich’s painting, it is important to mention a few aspects:

• Friedrich’s architectural depiction of the nave is not always accurate in terms of detail. In fact, it can be seen in his work that the pillars are quadrangular, whereas Eldena’s have an octagonal cross-section. This shape of the pillars was reproduced by Friedrich in other works with Eldena as a reference (e.g. Ruined Monastery of Eldena near Greifswald – 1825 [21])
• The second reconstructive scenario was developed in order to obtain a measurement in the reconstruction corresponding to the measurement of the modelling of the Eldena church (we refer in particular to the depth of the 4th pillar - 1.57m). This allows us to understand how far the painter deviated from the architectural reference of his painting in metric-proportional terms.

In this regard, we can see that the depth of the 4th pillar coincides with that of the 4th pillar in Eldena’s reconstruction of the nave. We can see that there is a gradual detachment at the metric level between the measurements of the nave drawn by Friedrich as one goes deeper or closer to the pictorial surface (Figure 6).

The intercolumn immediately following the pillar taken into consideration has a discrepancy of about 30cm (2nd reconstructive scenario – 2.54m, Eldena reconstruction – 2.87m), a discrepancy which becomes more pronounced as we move deeper into the spatial layout of the nave.

The comparison between this reconstructed scenario and Eldena’s critical reconstruction helps us to quantitatively compare the difference between Friedrich’s depiction and the dimensions of the nave of Eldena’s church when he painted it.

The description of the comparison of the different spatialities can be seen in the diagrams below  (Figures 7-8-9).

Findings & Conclusion

The study of different reconstructive scenarios of the work of Friedrich Abbey in the Oakwood has allowed us to discern a spatial structure in the rendering of the spatiality of the nave of the Eldena church. In fact, the analysis of other reconstructive scenarios in addition to those described above shows that the ratio value for all these scenarios tends to decrease (Figure 10).

Similarly, for all these scenarios, the value of the intercolumnation tends to decrease clearly and steadily as one proceeds in depth. This leads us to raise a number of questions regarding this data, which are closely linked to a concept of ‘densification’ of the spatiality of the nave of the church in comparison with the critical reconstruction of the church.

This means that Friedrich has depicted more pillars within the nave in the painting than he would have depicted if he had reconstructed the spatiality of the church faithfully. This can be explained by the fact that, rather than an increase in the pillars, there is a constant decrease in the values of the intercolumniations. From this derives the definition of ‘densification’ coined in this study, since elements such as the intercolumniums, which are considered as ‘voids’ in the representation in relation to the ‘solids’, i.e., the pillars in the representation, tend to decrease as we go deeper into the space.

The densification of spatiality described in this study manifests in the size of the intercolumnar spaces, which decreases in relation to the size of the columns as one proceeds in depth. In this way, Friedrich is able to include a greater number of columns in his depiction.

In addition to the formal aspect of the spatial composition, we feel it is also appropriate to highlight the methodological approach through 3D modelling. Such a study, undertaken with a digital and quantitative proportional methodology, is based on interpretative assumptions in Friedrich’s work. In fact, until the 2000s, the interpretation of the elements in the representation and their arrangement had led to a different interpretive approach [22]. The investigation of Friedrich’s spatiality started when it was analysed with reflectographic studies that showed that the surfaces of Friedrich's painting were arranged differently from what was defined at an earlier stage. Specifically, until these studies, art history scholarship defined the portal in the lower part of the painting as embedded in the west counter-façade of the church.

However, reflectographic studies showed that this doorway belonged to a portal positioned in the foreground of the church’s counterfaçade. This portal thus indicates a hidden spatiality of the painting’s nave [23,24,25] that had previously been missed. In fact, it is important to emphasise how new insights into the spatiality of Friedrich’s painting led to an overall change in the interpretation of the work itself. Previously, the conception of religious spatiality was related to a detachment of the represented figures from liturgical space. Conversely, the rearrangement of the painting reverses the structure of the pictorial narrative, identifying a funeral procession of monks entering the space of the church ruins. This kind of reverse narrative has also led to new interpretations of the painting itself.

Examples like these help us to understand the importance of studying the spatiality of Friedrich’s works and how the reinterpretation of certain spatial paradigms can lead to new interpretations of the artwork. The aim of the proposed study is to develop a methodology, based on the use of digital technologies, for the analysis of Friedrich’s architectural spatiality in this particular work in order to provide art history scholarship with new inputs to deepen the interpretative dimension of this Friedrich’s paintings.

Notes

[1] S. Augusto Celentano/Agostino Cortesi/Paolo Mastandrea: “Informatica umanistica: Una disciplina di confine”, in: Mondo Digitale 4 (2004), pp. 44–55, p. 45.

[2] Ibid.

[3] S. Sander Münster/Fabrizio I. Apollonio/Peter Bell/Piotr Kuroczyński/Isabella di Lenardo/Fulvio Rinaudo/Rosa Tamborrino: “Digital Cultural Heritage meets Digital Humanisites”, in: ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLII-2/W15 (2019), pp. 813–820, p. 815 [https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W15-813-2019, last accessed May 27, 2024].

[4] Johanna Drucker: “Is There a ‘Digital’ Art History?”, in: Visual Resources 29/1-2 (2013), pp. 5–13, p. 7 [https://doi.org/10.1080/01973762.2013.761106, last accessed May 27, 2024].

[5] Ibid.

[6] S. Sabine Lang/Björn Ommer: “Attesting similarity: Supporting the organization and study of art image collections with computer vision”, in: Digital Scholarship in the Humanities 33/4 (2018), pp. 845–856, p. 847 [https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqy006, last accessed May 27, 2024].

[7] Ibid.

[8] S. David Liebowitz/Antonio Criminisi/Andrew Zisserman: “Creating Architectural Models from Images”, in: Computer Graphics Forum 18 (1999), pp. 39–50, p. 44.

[9] Ibid.

[10] S. Yary Volpe/Rocco Furferi/Lapo Governi/Giovanna Tennirelli: “Computer-based methodologies for semi-automatic 3D model generation from paintings”, in: International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology 6 (2014), pp. 88–112, p. 89.

[11] Ibid., p. 102.

[12] Ibid., p. 90.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Ibid.

[15] S. Regina Bäck/David A. Plecher/Rainer Wenrich/Birgit Dorner/Gudrun Klinker: “Mixed Reality in Art Education”, in: 2019 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), 23–27 March 2019.

[16] Antonio Esposito: “The architectural spatiality of Caspar David Friedrich: An analytical 3D Reconstruction study on the re-elaboration of the space of Eldena Monastery in Abbey in the Oakwood”, in: Digital Humanities 2024: Book of Abstracts. VA 2024. DH2024 Conference, ed. by Jajwalya Karajgikar/Andrew Janco/Jessica Otis, Arlington, Virginia (USA), 6-9 August 2024. Zenodo, pp. 174-79 [Doi: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13834936].

[17] Antonio Esposito : “The Representation of Architectural Space for Caspar David Friedrich: The Case Study of Eldena Abbey”, in: Arts 14/7 (2025), doi.org/10.3390/arts14010007.

[18] For the definition of Critical Digital Model (CDM), please refer Fabrizio I. Apollonio/Federico Fallavollita/Riccardo Foschi: “The Critical Digital Model for the Study of Unbuilt Architecture”, in: Research and Education in Urban History in the Age of Digital Libraries, ed. by Florian Niebling/Sander Münster/Heike Messemer, Springer International Publishing 2021, pp. 3–24, p. 5–6.

[19] F. I. Apollonio/F. Fallavollita/R. Foschi: The Critical Digital Model for the Study of Unbuilt Architecture, pp. 5-6.

[20] Architectural Survey by Balthasar can be consulted: C.G.W. Balthasar [1857]: “Ruine Des Klosters Eldena.”, www.digitale-bibliothek-mv.de/viewer/toc/PPN1049685083/. [Consulted on: 7 December 2024].

[21] This painting can be explored at the URL: id.smb.museum/object/966456/klosterruine-eldena-bei-greifswald. [accessed on: 4 December 2024].

[22] Christian Scholl: “Ruinen-Versetzungen: Das Eldena-Motiv und die Rezeption der Backsteingotik bei Caspar David Friedrich”, in: Glaube, Macht und Pracht – Geistliche Gemeinschaften des Ostseeraums im Zeitalter der Backsteingotik, ed. by Oliver Auge/Felix Biermann/Christofer Herrmann. Greifswald: Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH – Rahden/Westf 2009, pp. 181–97.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Reinhard Zimmermann: “Das Geheimnis des Grabes und der Zukunft. Caspar David Friedrichs ‚Gedanken‘ in den Bilderpaaren”,  in: Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 42 (2000), pp. 187–257.

[25] Ingo Timm: “Zur Maltechnik Caspar David Friedrichs”, in: Caspar David Friedrich. Der Watzmann in der Alten Nationalgalerie Berlin, ed. by Birgit Verwiebe/Peter K. Schuster. Köln: SMB DuMont Buchverlag, pp. 89–115.

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