Large Fierce Mammal

“Hunters in the Snow” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, oil on wood, 1565.

Winter, in latitudes where sub-freezing temperatures can occur, brings with it harsh realities that only frantic and organized preparation in the months prior can meet with any hope of success, leading to the passing down of parables such as the story of the ant and the grasshopper, and the legend of the Wendigo. This is not hard to grasp, but the significance of the winter solstice is so profound that it has not gone unnoticed even by the inhabitants of lands with much more benign climates, where the season doesn’t ride in sharing a horse with the Angel of Death. ~ A Long Winter’s Night – The Winter Solstice is the Reason for the Season

“Hunters in the Snow“ was painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1565, depicting an unusually harsh winter that is held to be the precursor to the “Little Ice Age“. and represents the first time the beauty of a Winter landscape was ever portrayed in Art. Clicking on the image at the top of this page will enlarge it, but you will get an even better specimen here.

This marks the launching point for a BBC documentary that originally aired on 22 January 2013 titled Tales of Winter: The Art of Snow and Ice that chronicles the artistic discovery and expression of Winter, in all Her terrible and necessary glory. As described on the BBC website:

Winter was not always beautiful. Until Pieter Bruegel painted Hunters in the Snow, the long bitter months had never been transformed into a thing of beauty. This documentary charts how mankind’s ever-changing struggle with winter has been reflected in western art throughout the ages, resulting in images that are now amongst the greatest paintings of all time. With contributions from Grayson Perry, Will Self, Don McCullin and many others, the film takes an eclectic group of people from all walks of life out into the cold to reflect on the paintings that have come to define the art of snow and ice.

Here is the film. Decant an appropriate volume of anti-freeze concoction, grab someone warm to snuggle up with, and soak it up.