A Scene on the Ice

A frozen Dutch waterway comes alive in this winter scene by Hendrick Avercamp, painted around 1610. Avercamp knew the quiet of winter in a very personal way. He was deaf and mute, and in his own time people called him "the Mute of Kampen." Some think his sharp eye for watching people, all without a single word passing between them, is exactly what fills his paintings with so much life.

Dozens of tiny stories unfold across the ice. Skaters glide and stumble, friends stop to talk, and a couple rides by in a horse-drawn sleigh trimmed with red. Over to one side, a man swings at a ball in kolf, an early cousin of golf, while dogs weave between the crowd and townsfolk bundle up in dark coats and bright scarves. Rich and poor alike share the same stretch of ice here, giving us a warm little window into ordinary life four hundred years ago.

A soft, hazy sky glows with pinkish light, the kind that hints at a cold afternoon fading toward evening. Scenes like this grew wildly popular during the Dutch Golden Age, and Avercamp deserves real credit for turning winter into a subject worth painting at all. The longer you stay with it, the more small moments turn up, each one a reward for keeping your eyes open.