Joseph van Bredael (Antwerp 1688-1739 Paris)

This painting follows a composition by Joos de Momper II (Antwerp 1564-1635) and Jan Breughel I (Brussels 1568-1625 Brussels) in the Staatliche Museen, Kassel (oil on copper, 39 x 44.7 cm.). Bredael follows the prototype quite closely in the arrangement of the buildings and in the foreground frieze of figures around a horse-drawn cart and wagon, but he lowers the vantage point, introduces a warmer palette and alters the arrangement of the figures skating on the lake. Bredael was clearly drawn to this composition, since Ertz records three other fully autograph versions by the artist and two putative works, on both copper and panel supports, of varying scales (K. Ertz and C. Nitze-Ertz, Josef van Bredael 1688-1739, Lingen, 2006, pp. 34-7, 112-5 and 153-4, nos. E27-E29 [Echt] and F30-F31 [Fraglich] respectively).