Even before Corot was one of the early painters of the Barbizon School, open-air painting and oil sketches were of great importance in his work. He created over 150 between 1825-27 on his first trip to Italy. In Marino, in the Alban Hills, Corot looked out over the landscape from high above. In the evening light three figures, perhaps the painter and his friends, appear in the same colour as the rocks. The mountains and vegetation gradually become darker, but a clear light yellow still glows on the horizon. Corot captured the atmosphere so precisely that we seem to sense the coolness of the evening.