In this richly illustrated book, Torsten Gunnarsson provides for the first time a comprehensive study of landscape painting in Scandinavia during its vital period of development in the nineteenth century. Scandinavia's search for a national identity, combined with its strong sense of communion with nature, fuelled a growing interest in landscape painting in the 1800s. Gunnarsson shows how the magnificent wilderness became a symbol of Nordic strength and vigour, as well as a counter-image to industrialization and European urban culture.