Although the motif of large rocks is not often encountered in Corot's work, it attracted the artist from his earliest paintings. It can be supposed that Rocks, an unusual landscape for Corot without any direct analogues in his other paintings, was made during his trip to Naples in 1828. The red caps of the men, a characteristic item of dress for Neapolitan fishermen, support this supposition. It may be the shores of Ischia, a volcanic island that are depicted here. The painting lacks the freshness of many of Corot's landscapes, perhaps because of the artist's wish to preserve the particularity of the site more accurately: the colour scheme of Rocks is defined by the greyish-yellow colour of the island's stone.
The last location of the painting in Germany remains unknown.