Together with Jozef Israëls, Roelofs is considered the doyen of the Hague School, even though he lived in Brussels. During the summer he made oil sketches in the environs of The Hague, which he worked up into paintings during the winter in his Brussels studio. Depicted here is the road from The Hague to the village of Stompwijk. The swing bridge across the canal is open to prevent the cattle from escaping.