Final answer:
Romantic landscapes were intended to evoke the sublime, a feeling of awe mixed with terror in the face of nature's grandeur. Romanticism emphasized emotional responses and individual imagination, with the Hudson River School being a notable example of this philosophy in art.
Step-by-step explanation:
The particular feeling that Romantic landscapes were meant to invoke in viewers is known as the sublime. This emotional experience combines awe, beauty, and terror, often eliciting a profound reaction to nature's grandeur and power.
Romanticism as an artistic and intellectual movement placed emphasis on emotion, freedom, and the individual imagination. In this context, the sublime experience is closely associated with nature's untamed aspects and its capacity to inspire the observer with overwhelming feelings that transcend everyday experiences.
English painter Edmund Burke suggested in his work A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful that the sublime could evoke emotions such as terror in humans.
Romantic artists aimed to capture this sense of the sublime in their landscapes, depicting nature as a dominant and awe-inspiring force. The paintings often included elements designed to enhance the romantic atmosphere, such as mysterious ruins or idyllic pastoral scenes.
The Hudson River School, for example, was known for landscapes that exemplified the romantic sublime in 19th-century America.