Edvard Munch’s iconic painting of a figure on a bridge is The Scream.
Munch created the composition in 1893, and it became one of the defining images associated with modern anxiety and existential dread. The central figure presses its hands to its face while the landscape and sky ripple in sweeping, unnerving lines. Two smaller figures appear farther back on the walkway.
The work is not a single identical object: Munch produced several versions using different media, including oil, tempera, pastel, and crayon. The best-known versions are held by institutions in Oslo, including the National Museum and the Munch Museum.
The Norwegian title is Skrik, meaning “Scream.” An early German exhibition used the title Der Schrei der Natur, or “The Scream of Nature,” which helps explain why the image is sometimes discussed as a cry arising from the whole landscape rather than only from the figure.
The Anxiety, The Despair, and The Cry are associated with Munch’s themes or other works, but they are not the canonical title of this painting.