Icy snow is a visual treat in Washington, D.C. this Spring, at least in pictures. On view at the National Gallery is the work of Dutch artist Hendrick Avercamp (1585-1634) whose paintings of winter wonderlands depict people of all classes cavorting and working outdoors.

Part landscape, part genre scene, these works provide a warmhearted snapshot of 17th-century Dutch life. They also depict a cast of characters of a timeless, universal nature: well-off revelers, brewery crowds, skating lovers, beggars, laundresses, and ice fisherman.

The Little Ice Age reference is to the Northern Hemisphere's particularly cold period from the 14th century to the mid-19th century. Avercamp's earliest dated painting, from 1608, followed a winter when temperatures averaged well below freezing.