Winter Landscape at Arnhem

It is all go on the ice. People are enjoying a ride in a horse-drawn sleigh outside the city of Arnhem, playing kolf (a sort of ice hockey) and toppling over as their skates slip out from under them. Familiar scenes like this made winter landscapes extremely popular in the seventeenth century.

Salomon van Ruysdael specialised in Dutch landscapes, but painted relatively few ice scenes. Thanks to Van Dedem’s gift, the Mauritshuis is now also able to display one of his winter landscapes. It is a particularly beautiful example owing to the anecdotal details and great depth in the landscape, not to mention the fresh colours.