The Old Diligence in Winter

Adolf Gustav Schweitzer 1847 - 1914

Summary

A diligence (from the French, diligence, literally haste, or dispatch) was a high-speed public stagecoach. This carriage makes its way along a snowy country road at sunset, in the direction of a lone figure in the distance. Tracks in the snow indicate that this person has perhaps just walked this way too. The road follows a partially frozen stream through a wintry forest. Two rooks on a bare branch are the only other signs of life. A weak sun is disappearing behind the low clouds. Schweitzer trained at the Düsseldorf Academy, where he became a specialist in winter landscapes. This example successfully evokes the bitter chill at the end of a winter's day and the welcome sight of a diligence in an inhospitable landscape.