Asher B. Durand was one of the founders of the Hudson River School of landscape painting, so called because many scenes show New York state locales.

Durand, born in Jefferson Village, New Jersey, began his artistic career as a successful engraver of prints. He turned to painting in the 1830s, initially doing portraits, and began exhibiting landscapes in 1837. Together, Durand and Thomas Cole, America's leading painter in the 1830s, forged America's first school of landscape painting and became the inspiration for several generations of artists following them.

A Symbol deviates from Durand's usual depictions of contemplative scenes of the forest interior to present a work of great force and drama. It is also unusual in Durand's career to find a painting based on a literary source. The work which inspired A Symbol is The Deserted Village by British poet Oliver Goldsmith. When A Symbol was exhibited in the National Academy in 1856 the last four lines of the poem were printed in the exhibition catalogue. The following excerpt from the lengthy poem published in 1770 includes those lines which directly relate to the Durand painting.

. . . The service past, around the pious man,
With steady zeal, each honest rustic ran;
Even children follow'd with endearing wile,
And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile.

His ready smiles parent's warmth exprest,
Their welfare pleas'd him and their cares distrest;
The them his heart, his love, his griefs were given,
But all his serious thoughts had rest in heaven.
As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm,
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head . . .

In this painting, the mountain has, as the title suggests, become a symbol of the religious thoughts of man. Thus, the "tall cliff" is crowned by sunlight while the cares and tribulations of man in the earthly life are represented in the stormy scenes below. In the lower part of the painting appears a blasted tree trunk, a reminder of death and decay amidst abundance. There is also a church in the valley which undoubtedly alludes to the minister in the poem, but also refers to the manifestation of God on earth in organized religion.

As with all his paintings, in A Symbol Durand faithfully records nature as seen in the detailed rendering of the rocks and trees in the lower left. Durand made many oil sketches from nature. Yet his finished paintings are not always of locales exactly as they appeared but are the result of Durand combining several sketches to achieve an ideal scene which speaks of God, nature, and a new nation. Because this painting is more concerned with creating a symbolic statement, this work does not depict a specific place but rather is an imaginary scene.