PIETER BRUEGHEL the Younger, successor of the 17th cent. (Brussels 1564-1638 Antwerp) Winter scene with skaters. Oil on copper. Inscribed lower right: ii7. 28.6 × 35.1 cm. Provenance: Swiss private ownership, for at least two generations. The composition offered here represents an important phase in the development of Pieter Brueghel the Younger. Brueghel the Younger, who was still a child at the time of his father's death, continued his father's innovative vision in the depiction of winter landscapes - probably his most favoured subject. The composition was taken up by contemporary artists such as Abel Grimmer (1570-1620) and further developed by successive generations of Nordic painters, from Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634) to Aert van der Neer (1603-1677). While Brueghel the Younger painted complete series of the Four Seasons, he also executed individual versions or counterparts of the Seasons according to demand. The Winter Landscape exists in around twelve versions in his own hand, all of which are signed and one of which is dated 1621. These autograph versions are all executed on panels of similar size and proportion, which strongly suggests that the motif was transferred from a model available in Brueghel's workshop. There are certainly variations in the details, for example in the action and the number of figures on the ice. Another 17th century version of this composition by Brueghel can be found in the Musée de Grenoble (inv. no. MG621). This is very similar in detail to the present painting and is also painted on copper.