Winter Landscape near Vordingborg, Denmark

About this work

Despite the cold and snow, nature does not seem threatening or unwelcoming here. The hunter walking across the fields with his dog is never far away from the warm comforts of the thatched cottage, a plume of smoke rising from its chimney. Dahl painted the large winter scene for the Christiansborg Palace, a commission by King Frederik VI. Here, Dahl adapted his impressions from German atmospheric, Romantic landscapes to suit Danish sensibilities. The key element of the painting is the dolmen in the foreground by the foot of the old oak trees. The ancient burial mound and trees both connect past and present. Dahl quite deliberately chose to show a mound that had been disturbed and partially ruined to remind us to care for the relics of our past.