Caspar David Friedrich and Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov are the most important artists of the Romantic era in their native countries of Germany and Russia. At the centre of this opulent book are night scenes and moonlit landscapes, views of Dresden and Italy that are full of yearning, and portraits and lovingly depicted interiors by both master painters and their contemporaries. It represents an encounter between artworks from Germany and Russia. In them, the fundamental questions regarding the radical start of a new era in around 1800 becomes visible: the fight for political and artistic freedom, the search for national identity, the fragility of the concept of homeland and religion. The relationships between the two cultural nations and the journeys of the artists are examined, as are political aspects of art. The literature and music of the Romantic era and selected positions of contemporary art complement the diverse picture of contemporary art complement the diverse picture art. The literature and music of the Romantic era and selected positions of contemporary art complement the diverse picture.