A Winter Scene with Skaters near a Castle, 1608–1609
oil on oak
40.7 cm × 40.7 cm (16.0 in × 16.0 in)
Source: Wikimedia Commons
oil on oak
40.7 cm × 40.7 cm (16.0 in × 16.0 in)
Source: Wikimedia Commons
A Winter Scene with Skaters near a Castle is an oil on oak painting undertaken between 1608 and 1609 by the Dutch artist Hendrick Avercamp (1585–1634).[1]
As with a number of Avercamp’s works, the picture is part of the Flemish tradition of painting “the harmony of human activity and the cycle of nature”.[2] He was influenced in his subject by the Little Ice Age, particularly the cold winter of 1607–1608,[3] and was the first of the Dutch painters to specialise in snow scenes.[4]
The painting was acquired by the National Gallery in London in 1891 and remains in its collection, as at 2020.[1]