By the River at Vernon 1883

Claude Monet painted this view of Vernon by the river with oil on canvas. Dominating the skyline is the church tower, a symbol steeped in religious and communal significance. Consider the tower across time; its form echoes the Tower of Babel, representing both human ambition and divine judgment. In Monet's painting, the tower grounds the town, but its reflection in the river suggests something more fluid: a constant, albeit distorted, presence that defies easy categorization. We might recall the Jungian concept of the collective unconscious—the river reflects not just the material world but also the enduring archetypes that reside deep within us. Monet’s soft brushstrokes invite a meditative state, blurring the lines between reality and reflection, memory and perception, resonating with our deepest emotional states.