Corot was a tireless traveler, and the extension of the network of French railroads in the 1850s widened the range of his summer journeys. In 1852, 1857, and 1863, he visited Dardagny, a small village near Geneva. This view, essentially unchanged today, was probably painted on Corot's first visit. It is an excellent example of his remarkable ability to derive a poetic scene from a prosaic site.