Copenhagen: Roofs Under the Snow

P.S. Krøyer's 1885 rooftop snow scene painted in Copenhagen is an unusual subject for an artist more celebrated for summer beach scenes and interior light. The view of snow-covered rooftops recalls similar subjects by Danish and German Romanticists of the early nineteenth century, but Krøyer treats it with naturalist directness rather than symbolic resonance. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art's canvas captures the specific quality of Copenhagen winter light — grey, diffuse, and quiet — with characteristic technical mastery.

Krøyer renders the snow-covered rooftops in a near-monochrome palette of white, pale grey, and cool blue, with the chimney stacks and slate surfaces providing darker accents. The handling captures the soft, light-diffusing quality of fresh snow and the flat grey light of a Danish winter day with economy and confidence.