ARTWORKS

A Scene on the Ice by a Drinking Booth; A Village in the Distance

Jan van Goyen (1596–1656)

The National Gallery, London

A Scene on the Ice by a Drinking Booth; A Village in the Distance

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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The cold is almost tangible in Jan van Goyen’s evocation of life on the ice in a seventeenth-century Dutch winter. The horizon is low and the sky vast, so we are on a level with the people portrayed. A bank of grey cloud hovers overhead, just moving enough to let in the pale sun and allow a glimmer of reflection on the frozen river.It’s an imaginary place, perhaps built up from the drawings van Goyen made in his many sketchbooks. The distant church spire and the windmill are unidentified -- just typical Dutch buildings that could be seen anywhere. Rather than showing colourful incidents to entertain the viewer, van Goyen’s picture evokes an atmosphere: his tiny image is an elegy to winter. The colours are muted and swiftly painted, making the distant figures little more than grey outlines, almost like ghosts passing in the mist.

The National Gallery, London

London

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Title

A Scene on the Ice by a Drinking Booth; A Village in the Distance

Date

1645

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 25.2 x W 34 cm

Accession number

NG2579

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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Artist or maker

Jan van Goyen

1596–1656

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