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Jan van Goyen, 'A Scene on the Ice near Dordrecht', 1642

About the work

Overview

Barely a third of van Goyen’s painting of life on the ice in seventeenth-century Dordrecht shows people; the rest is sky. But he still manages to pack the picture full of incident and humour. Some people squeeze into horse-drawn sledges, while others zoom across the ice or stand and chat. Some play kolf, the forerunner of golf – or miss their shot and fall over, watched by an unhelpful dog.

The air is still with a mist of frost and yet the picture seems to move – a skirt flaps, a hat skids on the ice, legs kick in the air. We know which of the skaters is practiced and moving at speed and which are beginners, clinging on, their bodies tense.

The large building on the right is the Riedijk water gate, outside Dordrecht. Further away across the frozen Merwede river, on the left, stands Merwede Castle, already a ruin by van Goyen’s time.

Key facts

Details

Full title
A Scene on the Ice near Dordrecht
Artist
Jan van Goyen
Artist dates
1596 - 1656
Date made
1642
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
117.5 × 151 cm
Inscription summary
Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit
Bought (Lewis Fund), 1891
Inventory number
NG1327
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

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.

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