Rosny. View of the village in the spring

Corot signed and dated this little view in the lower right corner, Corot 1839. It shows Rosny, a village on the Seine a few kilometres downstream from Mantes, seen across open fields early in the spring. Two trees stand almost bare, their branches just breaking into white blossom, and the grass has come up bright green, with a darker strip of ploughed earth to the right. The houses make a low band along the horizon, with a square tower among them. Nearer to us, a woman walks with a small dog. More than half the picture is sky, blue with small white clouds. The canvas is only 24 by 37 centimetres.