The Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder from 1565 (currently at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna)

In the mid-16th century, a painting like this was considered rather avant-garde since the walls of the upper class and the elite were typically covered with religious icons or portraits of the aristocracy. Here, however, Bruegel has chosen to document the very real lives of the working class in the winter.

We see hunters and their weary dogs trudge into the frame from the bottom left corner. Their slumped shoulders and downward gaze tell us everything we need to know about their failed hunt. In fact, out of at least 84 figures in this busy scene, only one set of eyes looks back at us: the dog in the bottom-left corner, whose face confirms, yes, they've only got one fox to bring home.

The artist has brilliantly balanced this struggle for survival with the playful movement of the villagers on the ice below, skating, holding hands, and falling onto the ice. By placing the joy of the skaters and the desperation of the hunters on the same scene, Bruegel keeps us in the uncomfortable space between our need to survive and the indifference of the frozen world.