Artwork
Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap
Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Pieter Brueghel the Younger. It dates from 1601 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Overview
The work belongs to the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Created in 1601, this oil on canvas presents a winter village scene rendered by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, a Flemish artist active at the turn of the 17th century. The composition captures a frozen landscape populated by skaters, a solitary figure, and a concealed bird trap, all set against a backdrop of bare, snow‑laden trees and modest dwellings. The work belongs to the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Subject & Meaning
The painting juxtaposes everyday winter leisure with a subtle hint of hunting: figures glide across a frozen pond while a hidden trap lies near the water’s edge, partially covered by snow. Birds are shown in flight overhead, emphasizing the tension between the natural world and human activity within the cold, communal setting.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil, the scene employs careful chiaroscuro to model the ice and snow, allowing light to strike the surface and create a sense of depth. Fine details—such as the varied attire of the skaters, the texture of the ice, and the faint outline of the trap—demonstrate Brueghel the Younger’s meticulous brushwork and his adherence to the detailed genre tradition of his workshop.
History & Provenance
Pieter Brueghel the Younger, known for reproducing his father’s motifs and producing original works, painted this piece within his prolific studio that helped disseminate the Bruegel visual legacy. Over the centuries the canvas entered the holdings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it remains on display as part of the museum’s Flemish painting collection.
Context
The work belongs to the broader Dutch Golden Age landscape tradition, wherein artists documented seasonal activities and rural life. By integrating a bird trap—a common element in Flemish genre scenes—Brueghel the Younger connects the painting to contemporary concerns about survival, hunting, and the rhythms of winter in the Low Countries.
Artist & collection
Artist
Pieter Brueghel the Younger ( BROY-gəl, also US: BROO-gəl; Dutch: ; between 23 May and 10 October 1564 – between March and May 1638) was a Flemish painter known for numerous copies after his father Pieter Bruegel the…
