Une Route Enneigée, à Paris ou en Banlieue Parisienne 

Pierre-Jacques Pelletier painted ‘Une Route Enneigée, à Paris ou en Banlieue Parisienne’ in the late 19th or early 20th century. The melancholic scene shows a snow-covered road lined with bare trees, a typical view of Paris or its suburbs during winter. The painting reflects the social and urban changes occurring in Paris at the time. During Pelletier's lifetime, Paris underwent massive reconstruction, transforming from a medieval city into a modern metropolis. The painting shows how those transformations impacted the daily life of Parisians. Pelletier captured the stark beauty of the city in winter, using a muted palette to convey the cold and damp atmosphere. Note the figure in the horse-drawn carriage, a reminder of older modes of transport. To understand this work better, it’s important to look at the urban planning policies of the time, as well as the artistic movements like Impressionism, which influenced Pelletier's style. Art history teaches us to see paintings like this as documents of social experience, shaped by a particular moment in time.