This scene depicts life in a village on a cold winter´s day. The perspective is high and the composition is organised with the centre marked by a building in the middle ground that serves as the axis for the distribution of the village houses, and the foreground occupied by the frozen river with skaters and the snow-covered streets where the villagers circulate. The houses extend to the background, where a row of trees stands out, marking the horizon.

Two nymphs and numerous cupids hold a garland that frames a medallion where an offering to Ceres is depicted. The goddess of the Earth and of agriculture is shown being crowned by Spring while allegorical figures of the other seasons offer her their fruits. The cupids hold objects alluding to the signs of the Zodiac. Thus, the passage of time and the Earth´s life cycles are emphasized.

This canvas and its companion, Taste, Hearing and Touch (P1404), represent the five senses embodied by female figures in palatial interiors. The sense of smell is conveyed by a woman holding flowers, while Sight contemplates herself in a mirror held by a cherub. They are located in a hall filled with paintings and sculptures, a sort of cabinet of paintings that could reflect an idealized representation of the collections of the Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia de Austria (1

In addition to major battles and lengthy sieges, seventeenth-century warfare also involved small skirmishes which affected the civil population. Sebastian Vrancx, whose initials appear on the rump of the dapple-grey horse in the foreground, painted the figures in this scene and Jan Brueghel the Younger the landscape.

Isabel Clara Eugenia (1566-1633), Governor of the Southern Low Countries, is depicted walking in the park of the Palace of Coudenberg in Brussels, accompanied by a small retinue. The building is seen from the west façade, with the apse of the chapel built during the reign of Charles V.

Como es habitual en Jan Brueghel el Joven, el modelo iconográfico para esta composición se encuentra en los paisajes de Adán y Eva en el Paraíso inventados por su padre, Jan Brueghel el Viejo, si bien los leones están tomados de "Daniel en el foso de los leones" (Milán, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana) y el ciervo es el mismo que figura en muchas de las guirnaldas de su progenitor. Sin embargo, al contrario que en esos paisajes del padre, a primera vista parece que aquí lo importante no es el asunto ni lo

This type of allegorical representations of abundance or fecundity was very popular among cabinet paintings from this period. Artists such as Rubens, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Hendrick de Clerck and Hendrick van Balen, among others, also made such works, often in collaboration. Here, fertility is represented by a six-breasted figure at the center of the composition. She bears a horn of plenty and is accompanied by four children that may represent the four seasons. Nature’s abundant offerings surro