Some believe Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog to be a self portrait of Friedrich. The young figure standing in contemplation has the same fiery red hair as the artist.

The figure stands in contemplation and self reflection, mesmerized by the haze of the sea fog as if it were a religious and spiritual experience. He wonders in that moment about the unforeseen future.

By placing his back toward the viewer he is not shutting them out - rather he enables them to see the world through his own eyes, to share and convey his personal experience.

Though some believe this to be a self-portrait tradition recounts that the figure in Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog is a particular person, a high-ranking forestry officer, Col. Friedrich Gotthard von Brincken, of the Saxon infantry. He wears the green uniform of the volunteer rangers, those called into service against Napoleon by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.

As this man was most likely killed in 1813 or 1814, this painting may also serve as a patriotic tribute.

Though Friedrich painted this scene in his studio, he sketched it at the place of inspiration, Elbsandsteingebirge, in Saxony and Bohemia. He was always greatly inspired by German landscape and deeply moved of the beauty he found in his homeland. He depicts the mountains, the trees, and the heavy mist above the sea.