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Winter: Skating Scene
possibly by Gobelins Manufactory (France, Paris, est. 1662)
designed c. 1535, woven mid- to late 1600s
- Medium
- Wool, silk, and gold filé: tapestry weave
- Classification
- Tapestry
- Dimensions
- Overall: 244 x 388 cm (96 1/16 x 152 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- France
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Textiles
- Credit line
- Gift of Francis Ginn, Marian Ginn Jones, Barbara Ginn Griesinger, and Alexander Ginn in memory of Frank Hadley Ginn and Cornelia Root Ginn
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
People of all classes and ages enjoyed ice skating, a winter pastime popularized in the Netherlands. Here, some couples are already skating and slipping on the ice, while others tie on their skates or huddle around braziers (portable coal heaters) to keep warm. One affectionate couple in the foreground hold hands as they walk. A castle on the far edge of the frozen lake occupies the background. In the left distance, several small figures holding ladders and long hooks run toward a building that has caught on fire, a frequent occurrence in the winter when wooden houses were heated by fireplaces.
