Frozen Winter River Landscape at the Entrance of a City, Andreas Schelfhout
The canals crisscrossing the Netherlands served as icy sled runs in wintertime, and were more efficient than rutted roads for transport. Here, alongside castle-like dwellings, men and horses guide sledges full of goods to market. At right, merchants tend an enormous sledge of goods. This winter landscape may be nostalgic, drawing on 17th-century paintings like the Klaes Molenaer on view elsewhere in the galleries.
Discover more Old Masters in the following collections: