Rouen Cathedral, Portal and Tower d'Albane, Dawn

Rouen Cathedral, Portal and Tower d'Albane, Dawn (1893) at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston is one of the most architecturally explicit in the series, showing not only the main portal but also the medieval Tour d'Albane (the northern tower with the iron fleche). Dawn light creates the most dramatic tonal transitions in the series—the stone barely distinguished from pre-dawn sky, warm light beginning to catch the highest elements of the facade. The MFA Boston holding is among the most prestigious American institutional positions of any Rouen Cathedral canvas.

Dawn tones of deep violet-blue and warm orange-rose meet in the upper facade and sky zone. The tour d'Albane rises against a lighter sky, creating a strong vertical compositional element absent in the pure portal variants. Impasto is heavy in the lighter zones of the facade, creating physical relief mimicking stone texture.