As attested by the autograph inscription on the back, the Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde bought the painting from the artist in October 1951.

The subject is one first addressed by the painter in the 1930s with Snow in Milan or Snow on the Outskirts of Milan, (winter of 1932–33, private collection) and Snowy Landscape (Milan, Galleria d’Arte Moderna). It is also featured in a significant group of works from the second half of the 1940s, including The Treccani Gardens or Snow-Covered Garden in Milan (1945, Lidia De Grada Treccani Collection, Milan) and Snow in Milan (1948, Milan, private collection).

On moving to Milan in 1929, De Grada devoted his energies to the landscapes of the Brianza region and views of the urban outskirts under the influence of the coeval work of the members of Novecento Italiano, taking part on a regular basis in the major exhibitions organized by the movement’s governing committee inside and outside Italy. The winter landscapes of the 1940s attest to a new approach characterized by unprecedented freedom in the handling of paint and the adoption of a sober range of colours hinging on the contrast between a few shades of brown, black and grey and dazzling whites. The painting considered here, possibly a view of Milan in the area of the artist’s studio on Via Omboni, belongs to this period of mature production by virtue of the handling of paint and the rarefied atmosphere of the landscape.