Winter Landscape with Farmhouse

Esaias van de Velde painted a simple winter landscape: a house on the banks of a frozen canal with a few people on the ice. One man is tying on his skates and another is pushing along a sledge, while two boys are playing ‘kolf’ – a game similar to today’s ice hockey. Van de Velde chose a low vantage point and did not paint a panorama. So it seems as if we are standing on the banks of the canal ourselves.