Abraham van Calraet, 'Scene on the Ice outside Dordrecht', about 1665
On loan: Long Loan to the Dordrechts Museum (2024 - 2027), Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, Netherlands About the work
Overview
Against a grey sky threatening snow, the people of Dordrecht are out on the ice. In the foreground, a man chats to a woman with a laden basket. The sharp pink of her jacket is echoed on the saddle cloth of one of the horses on the left, the vivid colour enlivening the muted browns and greys of the rest of the picture.
At the woman’s feet, a man propels himself across the frozen river on a strange contraption. Elsewhere people push sledges, ride in horse-drawn sleighs, carry fishing poles or simply skate. All this activity is watched by the two patient horses on the left, the last of the dying light catching the coat of the grey.
The view is taken from the north across the river Maas. In the background on the left is the Groothoofdspoort, a watergate which still survives although it was altered later. To its right is the Grote Kerk (Great Church) which is largely unchanged today.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Scene on the Ice outside Dordrecht
- Artist
- Abraham van Calraet
- Artist dates
- 1642 - 1722
- Date made
- about 1665
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 33.5 × 57.5 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1915
- Inventory number
- NG3024
- Location
- On loan: Long Loan to the Dordrechts Museum (2024 - 2027), Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, Netherlands
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2008Long Loan to the Dordrechts Museum (2008 - 2015)Dordrechts Museum1 December 2008 - 1 March 2015
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2015Long Loan to the Dordrechts Museum (2015 - 2018)Dordrechts Museum2 March 2015 - 1 March 2018
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2018Long Loan to the Dordrechts Museum (2018 - 2021)Dordrechts Museum1 March 2018 - 28 February 2021
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2021Long Loan to the Dordrechts Museum (2021 - 2024)Dordrechts Museum1 March 2021 - 28 February 2024
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2024Long Loan to the Dordrechts Museum (2024 - 2027)Dordrechts Museum29 February 2024 - 28 February 2027
Bibliography
-
1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
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1915National Gallery, National Gallery: Abridged Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the British and Foreign Pictures, London 1915
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1915Rijkscommissie voor de Monumentenzorg, Voorloopige lijst der Nederlandsch monumenten van geschiedenis en kunst, 11 vols, Utrecht 1915
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1931J.L. van Dalen, Geschiedenis van Dordrecht, Dordrecht 1931
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1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
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1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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