The sculpture is due to Frederick MacMonnies, an American artist who lived and taught for several years in Giverny at the turn of the 20th century.
The man is on a smaller scale than the horses to make them look wilder, and to show the superiority of the spirit over the animal.
On the right the church is Vernon’s collegiate church dedicated to our Lady. It hides the houses of Giverny on the other bank of the Seine river.
Although Vernon was severely damaged by bombings during the last world war, this part of the town remains untouched. Slated or tiled roofs top small town houses piled up along narrow streets. Some of them still exhibit their half timbered walls typical of Normandy.
The houses in the foreground are as old as the keep of the castle on which I was standing, they date back to the 13th century.
This tower is the keep of the castle built in the 12th century by the French king Philip Augustus.
At this time Vernon was on the border with the kingdom of England. Strongholds were built on each side of the border materialised by a stream called the Epte.
The keep of Vernon was used during the 19th Century to store the town archives.
Now it is just a landmark of the town. It dominates a charming public garden called ‘jardin des Arts’, garden of the arts.
This bizarre house overhanging the Seine river in Vernon, 5 km from Giverny, surprises and puzzles many visitors.
It seems so strange that somebody had the idea of building it this way!
No wonder when you know that it once was a mill. The wheel doesn’t exist anymore. In the Middle Ages mills were currently built on bridges.
Monet was inspired by this old house. He painted it from his studio boat. The painting is now in the museum of Fine Arts in New Orleans.