The winter scene depicts the 17th-century Puritan settlers of New England, later identified specifically as the Pilgrim Fathers, as a small armed group of somberly clad, God-fearing souls making their way from right to left through a snowy, recently cleared wood to a house of worship (a small building visible in the left background).

A minister and his wife lead about a half dozen women and children towards the church and are themselves led and flanked by grim looking men with muskets.

The influence of the peasant procession paintings of French artist Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848–1884) is evident.

[1] It was exhibited at the London Royal Academy in 1867, receiving a warm reception, and at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876.

The painting was a favorite of a young Vincent van Gogh when in London in 1873.