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The motif of a turn in the road played a particularly important role in Cézanne's painting in the late 1870s and early 1880s. It enabled the artist to capture his own impressions expressively and simply, while serving as an effective means to organize the painting. In a natural fashion, a road ties together various planes within a work. The bend in the road provided Cézanne with a convenient way to limit himself to the foreground and middle ground. Although the landscape is devoid of people, it is related to the sphere of human activity: the small houses and bare stone walls along passageways create a sense that people leave behind these walls.