He was the specialist of series devoted to the Four Seasons and Twelve Months, which resemble panel transpositions of miniturarist calendars.

He was a contemporary of Pieter Brueghel the Younger and, like him, though in a highly personal fashion, interpreted certain engravings and models designed by Pieter Brueghel the Elder and Hans Bol. He thus remained deeply attached to the spirit and rather archaic conception of the XVIth century.

He is characterized by strict, precise graphics, a synthetic vision of nature following in the footpath of the primitives and miniature painters, a composition with schematic lines, and great subtlety in the choice and juxtaposition of the tones.

If we hardly knew the extent of his work, it may be said of him that he “simplified nature with a charming, poetic naivety, together with a great mastery of workmanship”. His pictorial style, which combines a highly personal realism of the landscape with a stylisation of nature and architectures, today appears strangely modern to us.

This painting provides an exemplary illustration of the success and popularity of an iconographical subject (of which this is the only known version by Grimmer) which blossomed in XVIth Century Flemish painting after Pieter Brueghel the Elder’s original masterpiece, now held at the National Museum of Capodimonte, in Naples.

Unlike the numerous other reworkings of the brueghelian model, the canvas by Grimmer is distinguished by its exceptional size and its faithful reproduction of the original, albeit in a highly personalized style.

In fact, the majority of the numerous adaptations of this work, whether by Sebastian Vrancx (cf. cat. Galerie De Jonckheere, Spring 1999, n°32), or David Vinckboons (cf. cat. Galerie De Jonckheere, Autumn 1997, n°31-32) are much more loosely based on the model.

By Brueghel's own son, Pieter the Younger, there are two surviving tondi that are quite small in scale (Diam. 19.5 cm.), in which the composition has been focussed on just two figures of the blind.

The present canvas, with its dimensions that are practically identical to the original - which are, it cannot be emphasized enough, fairly exceptional in this Grimmer’s body of work - reproduces all of the motifs seen in the painting by Pieter the Elder. It is only an attentive examination of the stylistic characteristics that reveals its attribution with absolute certainty: the stamped, horseshoe-shaped foliage, the synthetic and stylised rendering of the architecture, and the use of solid colour fields are all unquestionable indicators of Grimmer's handiwork.

From a more strictly iconographical point of view, it is known that the brueghelian invention is a virtually literal and highly apt translation underpinned by the following quotation from the evangelical parable (Matthew 15,14; Luke 6, 39 Romans 2,19): "Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?”

The fact remains that the incredible rise of this iconography can be largely explained by transposing the message into its contemporary context: no doubt, the majority of Brueghel's contemporaries and followers read it as an allegory of the folly of the times and also as an exhortation to trust only a sensible and decent observation instead of getting swept up in vain ideologies and relying on the prejudices and dictates of a religious and political establishment that was losing momentum… In other words, aside from its immediate charm and aesthetic impact, this magnificent work holds a message that is surely just as burningly relevant to the modern viewer.

The absence in this case of the motif of Joseph’s Dreamo makes it an original composition which allows for a particularly discreet and successful integration of the Holy group. The Holy Family is quite expressively preparing to cross a bridge that will lead them to the salvation of exile. This allows them to escape from Herod’s henchmen who appear in the right-hand foreground of the painting. The latter wear Spanish helmets, a mark that, like the Flemish typology of the landscape and architecture, indirectly updates the scene and expresses the painter’s implicit political opinion with regard to the tumultuous political events of his day.

political opinion with regard to the tumultuous political events of his day.

Otherwise, the atmosphere highlights the simple and domestic joys of winter pleasures.

In the foreground to the left, a mother is seen reprimanding her children who are advancing no doubt a bit too hazardously across the ice, while beside them, two children have simply overturned a chair to use it as a sleigh. Further in the distance, beyond the arch of the bridge, a couple of notables casually attempt to skate.

Similar innocent scenes of daily life continue throughout the village.

The buildings, which are simple and pared down, show the unambiguous mark of Grimmer, whose handiwork is also recognizable in the graphic treatment of the branches, and the progressive arrangement and solidity of the different fields of depth.

In the end, taking into account the gentleness of the chromatic harmonies, the stylisation of the elements which is never reductive, the delicate brushwork and the expressive characterization of scenes from daily life, this panel is suffused with the atmosphere of intense truth and poetry that is typical of the artist, and which garnered him the favour of his contemporaries as resolutely as it charms modern enthusiasts for his oeuvre.