Snowman and Cardinal

As long as there has been snow, there have been effigies... the snowman.  In the 1500s, during the Winter of Death, in Brussels, effigies were everywhere.  Some were angry, some pornographic, and artistic freedom with the balls of snow lasted until the snow left.

In Schenectady, in the late 1600s, there was a massacre and the Dutch settlers were in constant attack.  The gates to the fort froze open and the Dutch made two snowmen to guard the gate.  The French Canadian military and some First Nations were unfazed by the snowmen guards and the fort fell.  In Switzerland, in the 1800s, it was a tradition to make and then blow up snowmen.  There was a big parade that led to the snowmen and bread and meat was thrown to the watching crowds.  In the end, a large snowman was made and on Solstice, the bells of the church rung out to end the long winter and the coming of spring.  The signal was given and the large snowman was blown up with dynamite.  It signaled the end of winter.

In the mid-1800s. there was the first photo of a snowman.

We have forgotten about the rites of winter solstice and some of the ways it was celebrated.  I like the idea of smashing a snowman on the darkest night of the year. If I had my grandchildren and great-grandchildren close, I would start that tradition.   

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/winters-effigies-the-deviant-history-of-the-snowman

if you would like to spend some time doing the painting with artsherpa, follow this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl3TY29EXaY