[1] Jacob van Strij was born on 2 October 1756 in Dordrecht in the Dutch Republic.

He gave lectures at the Teekengenootschap Pictura Dordrecht on the paintings of the old masters and mythology.

He took his inspiration from the 17th-century landscape painters of the Dutch Golden Age, in particular Aelbert Cuyp.

[1] Jacob van Strij put a lot of effort and devotion in creating his winter scenes.

In order to achieve an accurate imitation of nature he overcame his ill health (he suffered from gout) and went out in the biting cold on a drawn sleigh to make sketches for his compositions.