Bathed in a gentle, suffused light, softened by the snow, a Brabant village sets the scene for the pleasures on the ice. On the far horizon, we can just make out a city enveloped in mist. With its intimate framework, this surprisingly modern little picture is totally different from the panoramas to which Patenier and his followers had accustomed us. The unity of the ivory-toned colours makes this an almost monochrome painting, heralding the Dutch winter scenes of the coming century. The aerial perspective is, however, traditional, conferring a timelessness to the work. The landscape is painted with great freedom: playing with the combined effects of tiny impasti and translucent glazes, the painter has created a dialogue between the opaqueness of the snow and the reflections of the frost, the cold tones of the ice and the dark colours of carefully positioned trees and vegetation. Specialists remain, however, divided on this masterpiece: some believe that Bruegel painted it on his own, others with the help of his workshop. Several versions and numerous copies of this composition exist, some of them as late as the 18th century.