250 euro - The Water lily pond: green harmony

Monnaie de Paris pays tribute to the major masterpieces of French museums or having been painted in France. On the obverse, one of the most famous masterpiece of Claude Monet appears: The Water Lily Pond: Green Harmony, achieved in 1899. A pond above a basin full of water lilies is represented. The « chef d’oeuvre des musées » stamp that defines this series has been added at the top right. The painting is exhibited at the Musée d’Orsay, which is represented as a part of the drawing and appears in the framework. The mastepiece and the artist names as well as the 2022 yeardate complete the decoration. The reverse is common to the series. It depicts several views of many major French museums. An interior view of the Musée d’Orsay, on the top left, is recognizable by its distinctive clock. Beside that is a view of the façade of the Louvre as seen from the Napoleon courtyard where the pyramid is located. Below these two elements, a fresco shows the Hôtel Salé, which houses the Picasso Museum. The lower portion of the reverse side features a view of the façade of Hôtel Biron, the current Rodin Museum, and above, the famous Centre Pompidou stairway. The face value and the words “République Française” are also inscribed on the reverse side.