Artwork
Ice Sleighs
Ice Sleighs is an ink print by the Baroque artist Peeter Bout. It dates from 1688 and is held in the collection of the Rosenwald Collection.
About this work
Overview
Ice Slews, an etching produced in 1688 by the Dutch printmaker Peeter Bout, depicts a bustling winter landscape on a frozen canal. The composition is filled with figures navigating sleds across the ice, set against a muted, overcast sky that emphasizes the cold atmosphere of the scene.
Subject & Meaning
The print captures a lively communal activity typical of 17th‑century Dutch winter life, where citizens traverse frozen waterways in sleds while others stand beside boats on the ice. The multitude of small figures conveys the social vibrancy and collective adaptation to seasonal conditions.
Technique & Style
Bout employed drypoint engraving, incising lines directly into a copper plate. This method yields delicate, slightly blurred edges that suggest the soft diffusion of winter light, while retaining enough definition to convey movement and texture in the crowded scene.
Context
The work aligns with a broader Dutch fascination with winter genre scenes, a motif shared by Bout’s contemporaries who often highlighted everyday life under harsh weather. Such prints served both as documentary records and as visual celebrations of communal resilience.
Legacy
Ice Slews remains a representative example of late‑17th‑century Dutch printmaking, illustrating the technical skill and thematic interests that characterized the period’s visual culture. It continues to inform scholars of the era’s social customs and the evolution of etching techniques.
Artist & collection
