Sonntag’s early career was markedly influenced by Thomas Cole and the Hudson River aesthetic, of which this painting is a fine example. Depicting a rugged, untamed landscape bereft of human presence, this painting embraces the mid-19th century belief that art was an interpreter of nature, which in turn was an interpreter of God. Celebrating meditation of the divine, landscape painting revealed the face of God in every aspect of nature and is most notably here in the distant, inaccessible mountain form rising from the mists, a metaphor for an awesome, monotheistic deity. The three trees in the bottom left of the painting might also be interpreted as three crosses. The depiction of such virgin landscapes also instilled in American viewers a sense of nationalist pride as they contemplated the majesty of their land and the vast potential for expansion.
William Sonntag was born in rural Pennsylvania and at an early age aspired to be a landscape artist. After failed apprenticeships to a carpenter and architect, William Sonntag is thought to have studied at the Cincinnati Academy of Fine Arts. By the mid-1840s he was established as an itinerant painter, selling paintings and sketches as he traveled the Ohio Valley. A storefront exhibition in Cincinnati drew the attention of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which commissioned the artist in 1846 to paint a series of views along the railroad’s route, in hopes of attracting tourists and settlers. In 1855 Sonntag traveled to Florence to study for a year, then settled in New York where he resided permanently after 1860.
After 1860 Sonntag’s style matured and into the 1870s he enjoyed substantial artistic recognition. He was awarded full academic status in the National Academy of Art in 1862. Upon his death in 1900 his works became largely forgotten, awaiting the current renewed interest in 19th century American painting.