LAUSR

2389 “N other nation in the world looks forward to an icy season the way the Dutch do,” wrote Wim Pijbes and Earl A. Powell III in the preface to Hendrick Avercamp: Master of the Ice Scene. Wintery weather predominated across most of Europe during the Little Ice Age, which started around 1300 and lasted for about 350 years. The atypically cold, harsh weather affected agriculture, health, commerce, emigration, and social stability, precipitating unrest, revolt, warfare, and migration. Throughout this time, epidemics of plague flared across Europe, and malaria persisted despite frigid conditions. The coldest period of the Little Ice Age roughly overlapped the 90 years of the Dutch Golden Age. Unlike most of Europe, the Dutch Republic, which preceded the Netherlands of today, thrived during the icy 17th century. Despite its small size and limited natural resources, the country achieved stability and prosperity, chiefly because of its unmatched commercial fishing and trading fleets and its agricultural practices. That confluence of “political, economic, religious, and social circumstances created a unique and fruitful climate for the arts,” according to the National Gallery of Art, which also notes, “A remarkable number of Hendrick Avercamp (1585–1634), Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters (detail) (c. 1608). Oil on panel, 30.4 in x 52 in/77.3 cm x 131.9 cm. Digital image courtesy of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. ABOUT THE COVER