c. 1665
Oil on canvas, 37 x 33 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich
This painting is one of the more than twenty that Ruisdael painted in the years after 1656 when he moved from Haarlem to Amsterdam. The distinctive aspect of these modest-size winter scenes is the minor role played by the staffage. Skating and amusements on the ice rarely feature in his work. The figures are mostly passers-by, whose presence underscores the leaden mood on bleak, dark days and the vastness of the landscape.
