Pieter Brueghel The Younger - Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap

Innovative for its time, since the entire landscape and narrative scene is the subject rather than the main protagonist, this composition, embodying the Dutch landscape tradition of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was devised by Brueghel the Elder before being copied extensively, notably by his son Pieter Brueghel II, known as the Younger or "Hell" Brueghel.

At first glance, this landscape reflects the carefree nature of life, but in reality it is a parable of improvidence, signifying the precariousness of our existence. Brueghel, who developed the elaborate practice of incorporating double and hidden images into his work, took care to introduce a cryptic and allegorical meaning into this scene depicting the simple and peaceful joys of skating on rivers.

Skating itself symbolises the "slippery" and precarious aspects of human destiny. Certain details, such as a hole in the foreground of the painting, give the impression that the icy surface could give way at any moment, curtailing these "winter pleasures". Lastly, the ever-present danger to humans is highlighted by an element in the lower right-hand corner of the panel : a wooden trapdoor ready to fall on the birds. In the sixteenth century, this bird trap was frequently interpreted as representing "the devil on the lookout for souls" or the Last Judgement, which "will unexpectedly befall everyone on Earth".