Three hunters trudge home through the snow with their dogs. They've had a poor day — the only catch is a single fox. Below them, the valley opens out: frozen ponds where tiny figures skate and play, villages, mountains, and a pale green winter sky.

Bruegel painted it as part of a series showing the seasons and the work of the year, commissioned by a wealthy Antwerp merchant. Five of the paintings survive, and this winter scene is the most famous.

It was painted during a period of unusually harsh winters in Europe, sometimes called the Little Ice Age. You can almost feel the cold — and the comfort of the fire burning outside the inn on the left. It's often called one of the greatest landscapes ever painted, and it's very hard to disagree.