Winter

In the winter of 1683 to 1684 the Thames froze so hard that Londoners held a fair on the ice, with booths, coaches and sledges, and Jan Griffier was living in the city at the time. Winters like that were part of life in those decades, and winter scenes had long been a staple for painters from the Low Countries.

This one, painted on a copper plate, is an imagined place. Tall bare trees close it off at either side like the wings of a stage. In the middle, a small village with a castle and a church is held fast by the frozen river, where crowds skate and ride on sledges while others carry on with their everyday work in spite of the cold. The museum dates it only to the second half of the 17th century. The name Jan Griffier is painted at the lower right, and the catalogue still writes attributed before it.