Unknown artist, seventeenth centuryFormerly attributed to Jan Wyck, ca. 1645–1700, Dutch, active in Britain (from ca. 1664)
Title:
Frost Fair on the Thames, with Old London Bridge in the distance
Date:
1684
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
25 1/4 x 30 1/4 inches (64.1 x 76.8 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1976.7.113
Gallery Label:
Early modern Europe experienced a “mini ice age” with temperatures plunging well below anything normally experienced in the temperate island of Britain. The winter of 1683–84 was so cold that a “Frost Fair” was set up on the frozen river Thames. According to the courtier and diarist John Evelyn, horse and coach races, puppet plays, bullbaiting, musical performances, cooking, and drinking all took place on the ice, and even brothels were set up. This picture of the festivities shows Old London Bridge in the background. At left, behind the Tower of London, is the Monument to the Great Fire of 1666. The ice was a novelty but also disastrous, locking up waterways so that ships could not enter or leave the river. Frost split open trees as if lightning had struck them, and birds, fish, exotic plants, and even humans perished in the bitter cold. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016