Sunlight pours over the elaborate stonework of Rouen Cathedral, dissolving its sculpted façade into a haze of pale gold, lavender, and blue. At the center, the great portal arches upward, its pointed vaults rendered in swirling strokes of rose, blue, and cream, while the tracery above is suggested by flecks of yellow and white. The left and right towers rise almost to the top edge of the canvas, their pinnacles softened into the sky, which is a clear, luminous blue filling every gap between the stone forms.

The lower façade glows with warm yellows and pinks, while cool blues and purples gather in the shadowed recesses, giving the impression of sunlight shifting across carved surfaces. No hard outlines define the structure; instead, the forms emerge from layered strokes, creating a sense of fleeting atmosphere rather than solid stone. The edges of the cathedral blur into the sky, with the upper left and right corners dissolving into soft blue and white brushwork.

The paint is applied in thick, textured layers, with short, broken strokes creating a shimmering effect across the entire surface. Claude Monet painted this view in 1893, focusing on the play of sunlight on the cathedral’s surface, as described in the phrase 'cathédrale de Rouen effet de soleil'. The surface is thickly painted, with visible impasto that catches the light and emphasizes the materiality of the paint itself. Throughout the composition, Monet uses dabs and streaks of color to evoke both the intricate details of Gothic architecture and the ever-changing effects of sunlight.

The overall effect is one of transience and luminosity, as if the cathedral is seen through a veil of radiant air.