Francesco Guardi, Landscape with a frozen lagoon. C. 1740

Paessaggio olandese con laguna gelata (English: landscape with a frozen lagoon) by Francesco Guardi, ca. 1740.

Guardi based his landscape on IJsgezicht met colvers bij Haarlem, a picture painted by Adriaen van de Velde some seventy years earlier in 1668. Guardi saw fit to add a few classical touches to the Dutchman's genre scene of windmills and skaters by adding a crumbling Romanesque ruin which dominates the right-hand side of the painting. Note the closed stance, hands well away from the body, permitting a sweeping stroke to loft the ball without breaking the club on the ice.

Private Collection, Milan, Italy