View on Ice with Hunter, Showing An Otter 1634

Hendrick Avercamp painted this watercolor and gouache work, View on Ice with Hunter, Showing an Otter, in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. It depicts a busy winter scene of people from various social classes enjoying leisure activities on a frozen waterway. What’s interesting here is the way that Avercamp uses the scene to comment on the social structures of his time. The detailed depiction of figures from different social strata – from the wealthy, to the working class, to hunters – suggests a society that, despite its rigid hierarchies, found common ground in shared pastimes. The frozen landscape, a temporary stage where social norms are relaxed, acts as a mirror reflecting the dynamics of Dutch society during the early stages of its Golden Age. Historians use a range of documentary resources to understand this period, including archival records, personal letters, and early printed books.