Explain how Friedrich’s and Turner’s landscape paintings arouse feelings of the sublime.

Both Caspar Friedrich and JMW Turner are considered to be
Romantic era artists. They and others believed that their art should simultaneouly
illustrate the natural world in a realistic way and also instruct the viewer that he or
she is looking at God's creation. Friedrich was once quoted as saying that an artist
should paint not only what is in front of him, but also what is within
him.

In order to arouse feeling of the sublime in the
viewer, Romantic artists typically chose to paint scenes which, while realistic, also
demonstrated extremes, as a way to express nature's, and by extension God's, power. The
images, while beautiful, are not necessarily pretty. Often storms were a feature of
these paintings; sometimes in the foreground, womtimes in the distance, somtimes implied
by a view of an aftermath. They sought to engender feelings of awe or impending doom in
the viewer, intending to emotionally involve the viewer in the painting, as opposed to
allowing the viewer to merely observe the painting.