William Raphael (1833–1914) was born in Nakel, Prussia, and studied at the Berlin School of Fine Arts under Johann Eduard Wolff. He immigrated to New York in 1857, where he supported himself through portrait commissions, drawing lessons, and retouching photographs before settling permanently in Montreal later that year. In Canada he established himself as one of the country’s first Jewish professional artists, producing portraits, landscapes, genre scenes, and still lifes. His best-known work, Immigrants at Montreal (1866), reflects both his technical skill and interest in contemporary life. Raphael exhibited regularly with the Art Association of Montreal, was a founding member of the Society of Canadian Artists in 1867, and taught generations of students at the Art Association and the Natural History Society of Montreal. Today, his works are held in major collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.

This finely painted 19th-century genre scene evokes the crisp chill of winter at the gloaming. As the last pale light glints across a frozen pond, one child hauls a bundle of kindling, another rides atop the load, and a third frolics with the family dog, all hurrying homeward, post haste, to the warmth of a welcoming fire. Painted in the 1860s, the work exemplifies William Raphael’s early style, where warm tonal harmonies and delicate brushwork imbue everyday life with tender intimacy. Though unsigned, it bears an early inscription on the stretcher bars identifying the painting. Scenes of this kind are especially cherished within Raphael’s oeuvre, offering a graceful complement to his celebrated portraits and Canadian landscapes.