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Original filePersonification of Winter
Personificatie van de Winter met de sterrenbeelden van het seizoen en de menselijke bezigheden in het seizoen. NL-HlmNHA 1477 53010766
after Hendrick Goltzius
About This Work
An aged, bearded man bundled in a thick, fur-lined cloak clutches a small ceramic brazier to ward off the cold. Above him, the three zodiacal signs of the winter months float in the clouds, while the landscape below shows a frozen river where tiny figures engage in ice skating near a fortified town. The entire scene is enclosed in a circular border containing a Latin verse describing the frozen state of the earth.
This work reflects the Renaissance preoccupation with the macrocosm-microcosm relationship, specifically how the celestial movements of the zodiac dictate the seasonal cycles and the stages of human life. It integrates natural philosophy and astrology into a moralized allegory of aging and the rhythmic nature of time.