The artist has depicted a barren winter day in the flat Dutch landscape. At left, a rustic tower with an adjoining well rises above a spray of leafless trees. At right a frozen river stretches into the distance while men play kolf and skate on the ice. In the foreground are a moored boat and an outhouse, and there is a farm shack in the distance. The gray washes in the sky heighten the sense of frigid winter weather.