The artwork titled “Sanctuaries and Citadels” was created by Nicholas Roerich in 1925. This piece, executed on canvas using tempera, embodies the Symbolism art movement and falls under the landscape genre. It is a part of the series also named “Sanctuaries and Citadels.”
The artwork depicts a mountainous landscape with a blend of earthy tones and subdued hues. The intricate layering of rugged terrain and distant peaks is rendered in a stylized manner that evokes a sense of mysticism and serenity. The composition draws the viewer’s eye through a winding path that suggests a journey through a sacred and ancient land. In the midst of the vast and undulating forms, hints of structural formations appear, resembling citadels or sanctuaries embedded within the natural features. The overall atmosphere of the artwork is one of timelessness and introspection, characteristic of Roerich’s symbolic and contemplative approach to landscape painting.
