The City Wall of Haarlem in the Winter

In an early winter landscape of 1647, families and carters pass through the snow at the foot of Haarlem’s fortified wall, whose brickwork rises on the right in cool shadow. Nicolaes Berchem, best remembered for the golden Italianate landscapes he painted from mid-century on, here still works in the grey northern vein of his native Haarlem, closer to the manner of his probable master Jan van Goyen and the young Jacob van Ruisdael. The crisp cold handling and the crisp light on the frozen ground point to the fluent talent that would carry him far from these modest Dutch beginnings.