Bevroren rivier met sleeënde kinderen before 1841

Joannes Bemme made this print of a frozen river with children sledding during his lifetime, between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Bemme lived through a period of major political upheaval in the Netherlands, including French occupation. The print shows figures bundled against the cold, their faces obscured. A group of children, huddled together in a sled, are being pulled across the ice. In the background, bare trees and a distant cityscape sketch a scene of everyday life amidst the winter season. There is a real sense of labor in this image, the labor of joy perhaps, but labor nonetheless. What strikes me most about this image is its quietness. It evokes a sense of a community finding moments of respite and connection in the face of environmental and political severity. The frozen river becomes a space not just of hardship, but of play, underscoring the resilience of ordinary people.