In the middle of winter in 1892, Monet lived in rooms across from Rouen Cathedral. He stayed until spring, painting its façade many times. Most versions were painted as seen here: close up and cropped at the sides. He returned the next winter to paint the cathedral again. He made more than thirty views of it. It was not the Gothic façade that was Monet's subject. It was the atmosphere that surrounded the cathedral. "To me the motif itself is an insignificant factor," Monet said, "What I want to reproduce is what exists between the motif and me."