Winter Landscape
1653
Medium
Black chalk and gray wash
Dimensions
sheet: 6 3/4 x 11 1/4 in. (17.1 x 28.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
From the Collection of Rita and Frits Markus, Bequest of Rita Markus, 2005
Accession Number
2005.330.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jan van Goyen's *Winter Landscape* (1653) captures the serene chill of a Dutch winter in delicate black chalk and gray wash a modest sheet measuring 6 3/4 x 11 1/4 inches. This intimate drawing depicts a vast, snow-covered expanse dotted with tiny human figures—travelers and villagers braving the frost—evoking the everyday life of 17th-century Holland. Van Goyen, a master of the Dutch Golden Age, pioneered tonal landscape painting, using subtle gradations of tone rather than vivid color to convey mood and atmosphere. As a drawing rather than a finished oil, this work highlights the artist's p...
About the Artist
Jan van Goyen · 1596–1656
Important Dutch landscapist known for his so-called 'tonal style'. Comment on works: Landscapes; Marines; Views.