In his typical peasant genre with landscape scene, Hunters in the Snow is one in a series of six (five surviving) paintings by Brueghel depicting the different seasons of the year. The scene is of hunters returning with their dogs from an unsuccessful hunting expedition. Scientists have used his portrayal of the wintry scene to corroborate evidence on the severity of the Little Ice Age, during which the painting was created. Also created during a time of religious revolution in the Netherlands, Brueghel is giving us a secular illustration of what country life should look like.