The Cote du Coeur-Volant at Marly-le-Roi, under Snow

At the Musée d'Orsay, this 1877 canvas shows the Côte du Coeur-Volant at Marly-le-Roi under snow — one of the finest of Sisley's winter snow subjects. The Côte du Coeur-Volant ('Stolen Heart Hill') was a named hillside in the Marly landscape that Sisley painted in several seasons. Under snow, the hillside road and trees became a study in near-monochrome with subtle blue and violet shadows, the specific quality of winter afternoon light when clouds diffuse the sun. This canvas exemplifies his mastery of winter atmosphere, finding visual richness within apparent simplicity.

The snow-covered hillside road is rendered through the characteristic Sisley winter palette — blue-white for snow, violet-grey shadows, pale ochre where earth shows through. The trees along the hillside are bare branches traced against the white, with their shadows extending across the snow surface. The sky above is carefully graduated from the pale horizon.