Art historians and some of his contemporaries attribute such interpretations to the losses suffered during his youth to the bleak outlook of his adulthood, while Friedrich's pale and withdrawn appearance helped reinforce the popular notion of the "taciturn man from the North".
Kunsthistorikere og nogle af hans samtidige tilskriver melankolien i hans kunst de tab, han led i sin ungdom, og de dystre udsigter i hans voksenliv, mens Friedrichs blege og tilbagetrukne fremtræden bidrog til at fremme den populære opfattelse af den "fåmælte mand fra norden".