Winter Landscape with a Windmill 1650

Jan Miense Molenaer painted this winter scene on a small wood panel in the Dutch Republic, sometime in the mid-17th century. Molenaer invites us to consider the economic and social life of the Dutch Republic, especially in the countryside, where frozen canals became thoroughfares in winter. A group of figures dominate the foreground and watch other figures on the ice. Next to them, a windmill stands idle, perhaps frozen in place. Dutch painting of this period is remarkable for its attention to the everyday, and to the way changes in climate, as well as in politics and social life, impacted regular lives. Such scenes were collected by wealthy merchants and displayed in their homes. Today we can learn about this period by reading social histories, studying weather patterns, and visiting archives of estate inventories. Doing so helps us understand how institutions and social conditions shape the very meaning of art.