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1 Your web browser (Safari 7) is out of date. For more security, comfort and the best experience on this site: Update your browser Ignore Student Version W INTER L ANDSCAPE W ITH SKATERS Sunny, snowy slice of life For the complete illustrations with media resources, visit: Hendrick Avercamp was one of the most popular painters of the Dutch Golden Age, a time period (around the 17th century) when art, science, and trade flourished in the Netherlands. Avercamp, who was most likely deaf, specialized in painting winter scenes, when Dutch citizens enjoyed working and socializing on the country s many frozen canals and rivers. Winter Landscape with Skaters (1608) is a typically lovely example of Avercamp s style. He uses formal artistic techniques and rich individual scenes to paint a picture of an entire community. Three major techniques create the illusion of space and depth in the painting. First, Avercamp has designed his painting as a triangle the wide canal narrows as it disappears into the background at the top of the canvas. Second, the frosty landscape eventually blends into the white, wintry clouds in the background. Finally, the figures in the foreground (bottom of the canvas) are painted in precise detail, while the smaller figures in the background are mere sketches. The incredible variety of individual scenes makes Winter Landscape with Skaters a slice-of-life depiction of the Netherlands in the 17th century. Women 1 of 5

2 and men, young and old, rich and poor all mix and mingle in the sunny, snowy scene. Questions How would the physical environment in Winter Landscape with Skaters be different in a spring or summer setting? Answers will vary! Ice would be liquid water, and the canal would likely be full of boats carrying people and goods. Trees and other vegetation would be in bloom. The horizon would be clear. The blue sky would be a stark contrast to the rich browns and greens of the earth. How would people s clothes, transportation, and technology change in a spring or summer landscape? Answers will vary! People would definitely wear fewer layers. Clothing would also be made of lighter fabrics, with fewer people wearing heavy hats and gloves. People would also be wearing cloth or leather shoes, not ice skates! An example of a transportation change might be the use of boats to navigate the canal instead of sleds or ice skates. An example of a technological change might be that fishers would not have to use axes to access the flowing water of the canal. Art can often sometimes provide historians and scientists with clues about past climate and landscape. What clues do you think Avercamp offers about the Dutch winter of 1608? How do you think scientists would investigate these 2 of 5

3 clues? It was very cold! In fact, you don t need to be a climatologist just a person living in the Netherlands to realize that today, Dutch canals and rivers rarely freeze over this completely. Climatologists have determined the winter of 1608 was not a freakish freeze. They compare paintings like Avercamp s with other sources, such as written records kept by medieval meteorologists, tree rings, and ice cores that record snowfall and precipitation over thousands of years. Together, these sources support the idea of a medieval Little Ice Age that cooled the Northern Hemisphere from the 16 through the 19 centuries. Fast Facts Winter Landscape with Skaters is a community portrait packed with individual scenes. Use our zoom feature (+ button) to see if you can spot these details: little girl running to meet her father skates with curled-up toes (a sign of luxury and wealth) men carrying long fishing poles for ice-fishing crows eating the rotting carcass of a cow man who fell face-down on the ice horse-drawn sledges (horses had to have special, sharp winter shoes in order to navigate the ice without slipping!) richly dressed women ignoring a poor beggar the artist s signature (HAenricus Av) man sitting down to put on his skates man carrying a sheath of winter wheat boy in a sledge pushed by his mother onion-shaped dome of a church or town hall man hacking a hole in the ice for ice-fishing th th 3 of 5

4 four men holding each other s waists in a line of skaters Dutch flag people playing kolf a popular combination of hockey and golf fishing net hung up for the winter season boat seeming to sail across the ice (based on a real Dutch vessel!) someone s bare bottom! Vocabulary Term Part of Speech canal noun artificial waterway. canvas noun heavy, woven cloth. communitynoun deaf 4 of 5 Definition group of organisms or a social group interacting in a specific region under similar environmental conditions. adjectiveunable to hear. depict verb to illustrate or show. dozen noun a group of 12. Dutch adjectivecoming from or having to do with the Netherlands (Holland). flourish verb to thrive or be successful. frost noun thin coat of ice covering objects when the dew point is below freezing. illusion noun plan or occurrence that creates a false belief. interact verb to work with or meet. landscape noun the geographic features of a region. mingle verb to mix or combine with. mute noun person who doesn't speak. precise slice-oflife adjectiveexact. phrase specialize verb natural or real representation of everyday experiences. to study, work, or take an interest in one area of a larger field of ideas.

5 Term technique noun method of doing something. trade noun buying, selling, or exchanging of goods and services. Audio Part of Speech Definition National Gallery of Art: Art Talk Avercamp s Winter Landscapes Images National Gallery of Art: Hendrick Avercamp The Little Ice Age Worksheets & Handouts National Gallery of Art: NGA Kids Inside Scoop (Winter 2007) Websites Web Museum: Avercamp, Hendrick National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. 5 of 5