The history of sports in the works of Dutch painters of the 16th and 17th centuries

Spiritual and cultural-educational functions of physical culture are an important link in the education of a physically strong and harmoniously developed young person, without which it is impossible to imagine the process of education as a whole. The spiritual sphere of physical culture accumulates all those spiritual values which have been acquired by mankind in the course of history in the field of physical culture and sports. It allows tracing regularities of development of different kind of sports and separate physical exercises, depending on the existing social formation. According to individual works of culture and art, rock paintings and petroglyphs, ancient sculptures, works by painters, it is possible to evaluate the technique of performing exercises, the form of clothing and features of sports equipment of that time. An example of creativity, combining both cultural and sports components, are the works of Dutch painters of the seventeenth century, which was able to pass the massive fascination with Dutch people in winter sports, the conditions in which they evolved, the atmosphere and the spirit of the time, the movement technique than made an invaluable contribution to the history of physical culture and sports.