Artwork
Winter Landscape
Winter Landscape is an oil painting by Philips Wouwerman. It dates from 1660 and is held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin. Created in 1660, this oil painting portrays a wintry countryside with a snow‑covered bridge spanning a shallow gorge.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The arrangement of these figures and architectural features creates a narrative snapshot of activity within a harsh, frozen environment.
The painting depicts a winter landscape scene populated by specific figures and natural elements. The composition includes a man and a horse traversing the snowy terrain, set against a backdrop featuring a bridge and a cliff. As a work of genre art within the landscape tradition, the piece captures a moment of daily life or travel during the cold season.
The arrangement of these figures and architectural features creates a narrative snapshot of activity within a harsh, frozen environment.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1660, Winter Landscape is an oil painting on a panel support measuring 27 cm in height and 23 cm in width. Created in Haarlem by Philips Wouwerman, the work exemplifies the artist's landscape genre through a compact composition featuring a man, a horse, a bridge, and a cliff. The application of oil paint allows for the detailed rendering of these elements within a small-scale format typical of Dutch Golden Age cabinet pictures.
While specific details regarding the current surface condition or varnish layers are not provided in the available records, the material construction remains consistent with seventeenth-century Netherlandish practices.
History & Provenance
Winter Landscape by Philips Wouwerman was produced in 1660, painted in oil in Haarlem. The work measures 27 by 23 cm. It is held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, where it remains located.
The sources do not document a specific commissioner, prior ownership chain, or acquisition history for the painting, nor do they provide a more precise creation date beyond the year 1660.
The painting Winter Landscape by Philips Wouwerman is held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. Created in 1660, the work depicts a landscape scene featuring a man, a horse, a bridge, and a cliff. The provided sources confirm its location within this specific museum but do not list a specific inventory or accession number. Furthermore, no information regarding the exhibition history of this artwork is available in the current records.
Overview
Created in 1660, this oil painting portrays a wintry countryside with a snow‑covered bridge spanning a shallow gorge. A rider in a bright red coat passes the bridge, while a distant group of figures moves beyond the foreground. The composition is set against a muted, yellow‑tinged sky and a stark cliff topped by a solitary branch, emphasizing the cold atmosphere.
Artist & collection
Artist
Philips Wouwerman (also Wouwermans) (24 May 1619 (baptized) – 19 May 1668) was a Dutch painter of hunting, landscape and battle scenes. He became prolific during the Dutch Golden Age and joined the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke.
