{"id":319523,"date":"2025-04-17T13:45:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T11:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/?post_type=columnist&p=319523"},"modified":"2025-04-17T13:49:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T11:49:51","slug":"notre-dame-an-open-book","status":"publish","type":"columnist","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverwalks.com\/blog\/columnist\/floriane-gaber\/notre-dame-an-open-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Notre Dame: An Open Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you visit Notre Dame, what do you see? How old are the stones, the paintings, the stained-glass windows? After the terrible fire of April 2019, the recent renovation in no way restored or reconstructed the medieval cathedral “identically.” Over the centuries, numerous alterations had indeed transformed the original appearance of a building that was bound to evolve over time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fa\u00e7ade, for example, originally polychrome, now appears rather pale. It is a composite collection of figures present since the Middle Ages, but most of them, having suffered the ravages of time and revolutions, had to be restored in the 19th century.<\/p>\n

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\u00ab The kings on the fa\u00e7ade were beheaded during the French Revolution. The original heads are nowadays in the Cluny Museum\u201d
Salle des sculptures de Notre-Dame de Â鶹APP Banquette pr\u00e9sentant neuf t\u00eates de la galerie des rois. Â鶹APP, mus\u00e9e de Cluny – mus\u00e9e national du Moyen \u00c2ge \u00a9 Alexis Paoli, OPPIC
Exposition \u00ab Faire parler les pierres \u00bb, 19\/11\/2024-16\/03\/2025<\/p><\/div>\n

A turbulent destiny<\/h4>\n

To understand what we see today at Notre Dame, we must outline its history. Begun in the mid-12th century, its construction was completed two centuries later. The overall appearance of the building has quite not changed since then. The interior and exterior iconographic program is intended for the edification of the population.
\nIn the Middle Ages, a rood screen (a wall decorated with sculptures) and a boundary wall separated the choir from the nave. The former has now disappeared, demolished in the 18th century when worship was modernized; the latter remains partially visible, its western face having been replaced by a gilded grille offered by the royal family. The marble floor and sculptures date from this period. In the choir, on the right, Louis XIII kneels, offering the crown to the Virgin. Louis XIV, the long-awaited heir, faces him. In the middle, a pieta, leaning against a gilded cross by a 20th-century French artist.<\/p>\n

The French Revolution did not spare Notre Dame, which for a time became a “Temple of Reason” where the latter was celebrated in the form of wild charivari. The treasure (of goldwork), the furniture: everything was lost. The cathedral entered the 19th century in a pitiful state. Napoleon I then had the bright idea of having himself crowned there. All hands on deck! Temporary decorations were built, draperies hid the damaged pillars: the decorum visible in David’s painting (The Coronation of Napoleon) is a miracle… and a lie.<\/p>\n

It took all of Victor Hugo’s talent and conviction to steer public interest in this “outmoded medieval relic,” almost fit for demolition. Especially since the riots of 1830 and 1831 did not spare it… The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released that same year; renovation work soon began, entrusted to Viollet-le-Duc, who chose not to attempt a futile “reconstruction” but to dream of a monument that he would nurture based on solid historical and heritage knowledge.<\/p>\n

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Chapelle FG : \u00ab Designed by Viollet-le-Duc \u00bb \u00a9FG<\/p><\/div>\n

It was this building that would go up in flames on April 15, 2019.<\/p>\n

And today?<\/h4>\n

When you enter Notre Dame, you are struck by the modernity of the baptistery, the altar, the seats… And for good reason: they were specially designed by contemporary artists and installed for the reopening on December 8, 2024.<\/p>\n

The whiteness of the pillars and vaults is also impressive. The layer of grime caused by the smoke from votive candles and the breath of thousands of visitors has been scrupulously cleaned away, restoring the building to its original splendor. No one since the 13th century has seen the stone in this condition.<\/p>\n

As for the first chapels on the north side, a learned dialogue has been established between the paintings of the grand si\u00e8cle offered each year in May by the goldsmiths’ guild and modern tapestries. The decoration of the radiating chapels around the choir is, for its part, a pure creation from the time of Viollet-le-Duc, based on his knowledge of medieval motifs and duly cleaned by the attentive restorers. Only a fresco in the chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows displays a distant origin from the 14th century.<\/p>\n

Likewise, the stained-glass windows are mostly the work of 19th-century artists. Only the three rose windows are from the medieval period (but have undergone numerous restorations). The 18th century having decided to let more light into the building, transparent panes were preferred to the earlier colored images. Viollet-le-Duc and his team therefore patiently designed and manufactured the stained-glass windows now visible in the choir and transept, adjoining contemporary creations from the 20th century in the upper part of the nave.<\/p>\n

One last look at the cathedral’s exterior: while the gargoyles restored by Viollet already existed in the Middle Ages, the chimeras he perched on the terrace are his own invention. Likewise, the brand-new spire that sits amidst the two towers was rebuilt “identically,” following the model he designed in the 19th century.
\nLooking at Notre Dame is like leafing through a lavishly illustrated history book where the ages join hands to draw each other toward the best.<\/p>\n