It is a Romantic allegorical landscape, depicting a stone cairn or dolmen set amid three oak trees on a hilltop, with a contemplative melancholy mood.

The three trees around the cairn recalls the three wooden crosses on Golgotha at the crucifixion of Jesus, and the stone chamber where Christ's body was entombed.

The painting also alludes to the permanence of the ancient stone landmark, the strength of the oak tree to withstand the storm broken and bowed but not defeated, and the continuity of life in the middle of winter.

Art critics have interpreted the painting as a meditation on life and death, and on the political situation in Germany following the defeats of Prussia by Napoleon's French army at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt in 1806.

[3][4] The work was sold at auction in Leipzig in 1845 and acquired by Friedrich's friend and fellow painter Johan Christian Dahl.