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In the seventeenth century the Little Ice Age settled over Northern Europe. Rivers and canals in Holland froze over and people took to the ice for work, leisure – and accidents. Hendrik Avercamp, just starting out as an artist, took to it too. His life’s work became the depiction of winter scenes full of incident with the people he knew and had grown up with as his characters. Under the grey light of a winter’s day, they continued their lives almost unchanged – they did business, gossiped, tended children, had fun – but sped up on skates. Avercamp’s painting is one to explore. Endless stories and character sketches are there for the curious eye to discover: the man pointing up the skirts of a girl who has taken a tumble; people playing kolf, forerunner of golf; an old man on a chair, thought to personify winter.
Title
A Scene on the Ice near a Town
Date
about 1615
Medium
Oil on oak
Measurements
H 58 x W 89.8 cm
Accession number
NG1479
Acquisition method
Bought, 1896
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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Winter Landscape National Galleries of Scotland: National -
Winter Landscape with a Frozen River and Figures Guildhall Art Gallery -
Winter Landscape on the River Ijsel, near Kampen, Holland Guildhall Art Gallery -
Fisherman The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust) -
A Scene on the Ice near a Town The National Gallery, London -
A Winter Scene with Skaters near a Castle The National Gallery, London -
A Winter Landscape with Figures around a Bridge National Trust for Scotland, Hill of Tarvit Mansionhouse & Garden