A Scene on the Ice Hendrik Avercamp

National gallery, London

Dutch painter 1585-1663.Born in Amsterdam, the son of a schoolteacher and the grandson on his mother's side of the philosopher Meerhoutanus. He studied art in Amsterdam with Gillis de Coninxloo and was so silent in the studio that his fellow students nicknamed him "The Mute." Little is known of his life except that he set up a studio in The Hague where he painted landscapes, marine scenes, and a great many of the winter scenes for which he is best known today.