Another Look Inside the Restored Notre-Dame de Paris

Following up on a post which I made last Friday about the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris, the American news program 60 Minutes posted an interesting video on the same subject two days ago. I thought it would be worth sharing because it is longer than the French one in my other post, and shows not just the final results, but also tells us a good amount about the restoration process, including some views of murals in the side chapels (predominantly the work of the last great restoration, in the 19th century.) A good portion of it involves an interview with the French president Emmanuel Macron, who, from what I have seen, really deserves credit for pushing to make sure that the restoration would be faithful to the traditional architectural form and decorative style of building, within certain inevitable limits. (I have just read an article this morning that the French government is currently spiraling through a major political crisis; some of what Mr Macron says towards the end of this may seem rather self-serving, and should perhaps be considered in light of that fact. Politicus politicat...)

What ever else might be said about the role which the French government has had in this project, one can only thank God that most of it was not in the hands of the people who thought that these vessels

and this display for the relic of the Crown of Thorns

were good ideas. It really is time for the Sacred Congregation for Rites to issue a sternly worded decree that objects purchased in the kitchenware section of IKEA 30 years ago are not to be used in the rites of our holy mother the Church.

Speaking of relics, by the way, today, December 4th, is the day when the church of Paris originally celebrated a feast called “Susceptio Reliquiarum – the Receiving of the Relics”, instituted in 1194 to commemorate some of Notre-Dame’s most significant relics. As I have described in a previous article, this feast was later transformed into a general commemoration of all relics, and moved to the octave day of All Saints. The Crown of Thorns, however, was not among those that were originally celebrated by this feast, since it was acquired later, in the 13th century, by St Louis IX, and belonged not to Notre-Dame, but to the famously magnificent chapel which he built to house it, the Sainte-Chapelle.

St Louis IX receiving the relics of the Crown of Thorns, the Holy Lance, a part of the True Cross, and others from Constantinople, as depicted in a manuscript of the 14th century (1332-50), now in the British Library. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

A View of the Newly Restored Notre-Dame de Paris

As I am sure our readers have already heard, the interior restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris has been completed, although work is still going on on the exterior. Earlier today, the French president Emmanuel Macron was taken on an official tour of the restored interior, which will be formally reopened for liturgical use with a celebration of Vespers on the evening of December 7th by the archbishop of Paris, His Excellency Laurent Ulrich. It is certainly an impressive feat that after the devastating fire of April 2019, the restoration was able to be done so quickly, and for the most part, so well.

There are several such videos available on YouTube, which can easily be found by searching for something like “Notre Dame interior”. I chose this one from the French news channel BFMTV because it shows fairly little of the most obvious failure of the restoration, the terrible new liturgical fixtures. The baptismal font, placed in front of the main door, according to one of the sillier conceits of modern church arrangements, is not so much ugly as out of place, and much like the new lectern and cathedra, basically just a very boring knock-off of the worst of IKEA, purely functional, and devoid of beauty. The new altar and tabernacle, on the other hand, are not just out of place, but profoundly and offensively ugly, as is the new display thing in which the relic of the Crown of Thorns has been installed, (not shown in this video). What’s worse, I learned today from a friend that the altar which Cardinal Lustiger installed in 1987 was not destroyed by the collapse of the ceiling during the fire, as had been widely reported, and will apparently be used to deface one of the other great Gothic cathedrals of France, in the city of Bourges.

Historical Images of Notre-Dame de Paris: A Collection by Sharon Kabel (Part 2)

Here is the second part of Sharon Kabel’s collection of images of the interior of Notre-Dame de Paris, which she gracious agreed to share with us: the first part was published on Wednesday. This covers the period from the Revolution to modern times, during which the church was severely damaged in more than one way. The motto of the city of Paris is “Fluctuat, nec mergitur – it is tossed by the waves, but not sunk”, and this applies to its cathedral as well, as these images beautifully show.

1790 A Te Deum sung at Notre-Dame on February 14, 1790, commemorating the session of Parliament of Feb. 4, for which the king was present. (This was an attempted reconciliation between King Louis XVI and the revolutionaries, which would soon fail.) Imprimerie des Revolutions: Paris.

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b6948087c?rk=42918;4#

1793 An idolatrous festival celebrated in the cathedral, dyring which the Jacobins had an actress sit on the high altar, dressed as the goddess Reason. 1793, J. M. Will: Augsburg. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b52509803t?rk=1373397;2

1800s Charles Percier. The choir of Notre-Dame before the restoration by M. Viollet-le-Duc. Bibliothèque nationale de France. https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b103033087?rk=879832;4

1800s A drawing of the sanctuary, 1163-c.1250, as conceived in the 19th cent. Paris: Notre-Dame Cathedral Ref.: drawings sanctuary. https://library-artstor-org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822003354576

1802 Aubert, M. (1920). Notre-Dame de Paris: sa place dans l’histoire de l’architecture du XIIe au XIVe siècle. [Paris]: Librarie Renouard.

https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101075986990?urlappend=%3Bseq=51%3Bownerid=2702159777 0049409-55

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Historical Images of Notre-Dame de Paris: A Collection by Sharon Kabel (Part 1)

Once again, we are profoundly grateful to Mrs Sharon Kabel for sharing one of her wonderful research projects with NLM. This time, she has made a collection of historical images of the high altar and choir of the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, enough that we can make two posts of them. In its long history, as she rightly notes, “The high altar and the choir of Notre Dame have gone through several drastic changes, all of which drew strong and mixed reactions when they happened, and in ensuing decades.” I am sure that a good number of our readers will agree with me that the new arrangement installed by King Louis XIV (1699-1714) would have been worthy in and of itself for a new church of its era, but that in Notre-Dame, was not an improvement over the medieval arrangement. But I am equally sure that any of the arrangements we see here would be an improvement over the truly awful new liturgical furnishings which the archdiocese of Paris recently revealed, so hopefully, these images will also provide inspiration for a future dewreckovation.

This first part covers images up to the beginning of the Revolution; the second will cover the period from 1790 to April, 2019.

The altar in the 1200s, from Viollet-le-Duc, E. (1875). Dictionnaire raisonné de l'architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle. Paris: A. Morel. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000776217/Home

The choir in the same period. (Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène-Emmanuel, 1814-79, and Edgar Quinet. Les églises De Paris: Le Panthéon Par E. Quinet. Paris: C. Marpon et E. Flammarion, 1883. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100345704)

The main altars of Notre-Dame de Paris (fig. 1) and the cathedral of Arras (fig. 2), both with altar curtains (tetravela). Illustration in Franz Bock's 1871 Geschichte der liturgischen Gewänder des Mittelalters.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bock1871bd3_0259.jpg

Fortuné Louis Méaulle. [Notre-Dame de Paris, Livre troisième.] Le Grand-Autel. 1877. Maison de Victor Hugo - Hauteville House. Numéro d’inventaire: 2017.0.1322.3.
https://www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/maison-de-victor-hugo/oeuvres/notre-dame-de-paris-livre-troisieme-le-grand-autel-1#infos-principales

The choir in 1669. (Choeur de N-D de Paris lors du Te Deum donné en 1669, gravure de Jean Marot (1619-79), musée Notre-Dame.)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Choeur_de_ND_de_Paris_1669.jpg

This coin minted in 1699 shows the plans for the renovation of the sanctuary in the style of the era, planned by Louis XIV in fulfillment of a vow made by his father. (Jerome Roussel. Voeu de Louis XIII. 1699. Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-arts de la Ville de Paris. https://www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr/fr/petit-palais/oeuvres/voeu-de-louis-xiii-0#infos-principales)

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Updates on the Restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris

Good Friday of this year also marked the third anniversary of the terrible fire that inflicted so much damage on the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. The English-language YouTube channel of the news service France24 has done annual updates on the progress of the restorations, which are quite interesting: in this year’s, we get to see among other things the internal workings of the church’s famous organ, being fixed by restorers located quite far from Paris, and the recent discovery of both a tomb in the floor and some parts of the original roodscreen, which was demolished in the 16th century. 

Here is last year’s update, which focused on the broader structural problems caused to the building as a whole, and the efforts to preserve it. It also shows work being done on some of the side-chapels, which have uncovered some of the restorations by Eugène Viollet le Duc, who dedicated much of his life to bring the church back to life after the devastation visited on it during the Revolution.   

An 18th-Century Epistle Book from Notre-Dame de Paris

Following up on Tuesday’s post on the mid-18th century Gospel book used at Notre-Dame de Paris, here is the accompanying book of Epistles. (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits, Latin 8895) This is also just a selection of the images, but it does include all of the headers with illustrations for the various feasts, of which there are fewer than in the Gospel book.

“The book of Epistles according to the use of the metropolitan church of Paris, 1753.”

The Midnight Mass of Christmas

Epiphany

A sample of a the many floral decorations; this is the only one that fills its page, and is placed right before the Purification.

The Purification; the high priest is dressed rather like the Pope, and his servant like a page at the French court, of which the Temple in Jerusalem was merely a prefiguration... 

Easter

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An 18th-Century Gospel Book from Notre-Dame de Paris

Here’s another great find from the website of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, a Gospel book for the major feasts of the year, produced in 1753 for the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. (Département des Manuscrits, Latin 9461) Almost every one of its 110 pages has an illustration, illuminated letter, or decorative element of some kind, so this is just a selection of some of the nicer one; the complete book can be seen in high resolution scans, and downloaded as a pdf, at the link above. Last year, I shared pictures of an Epistle book and Gospel book, both in a similar style, made for the Royal Chapel at Versailles.

The day Mass of Christmas

Epiphany

The Presentation

The Annunciation

Maundy Thursday

Easter

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The Organs at Notre Dame: An Update Almost One Year After the Fire

The latest episode of Square Notes: The Sacred Music Podcast has just been released.

Our guest for this episode is the fantastic titular organist of Notre Dame, Olivier Latry, who gives us an assessment of the damage and what to look for in the road ahead. He also discusses the development of the instrument and its role in the sacred liturgy, and the development of the organ repertoire.

For more information about Olivier Latry, please click here: www.concertorganists.com/artists/Olivier-Latry/.

For more information about the Introduction to the Organ for Pianists class this summer at St. Joseph’s Seminary, click here: www.dunwoodie.edu/dunwoodie-music-classes.



You can catch us on our website, YouTube, iTunes, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app. Please note that we have discontinued publishing on SoundCloud.

A First Look at the Restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris

From the YouTube channel of the Financial Times, an interesting look at the beginning of the project to restore the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris after the fire of April 15, including some explanation of the technlogies being used by the restorers. This was the first time a media outlet was allowed to enter the church and shown around the site.

Concert to Support Notre-Dame de Paris at St John Cantius in Chicago, June 8th

Tomorrow, the church of St John Cantius in Chicago, Illinois, will host a free concert celebrating the spiritual and significance of Notre-Dame de Paris. The program will feature a combined choir of over 100 voices from choruses around Chicago; the famed Messe Solennelle, Op.16, by Louis Vierne will be sung accompanied by the historic Casavant Frères pipe organ and other French works composed in Paris at Notre Dame. Donations will be received, and the funds will be used to help restore Notre Dame. See the full program here at the church’s website.

Two Designs for Notre-Dame de Paris

In the wake of the fire which damaged Notre-Dame de Paris last week, and the subsequent discussion of proposals for its restoration, this drawing has appeared several times on social media.

This comes from the pen of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-79), who dedicated many years of his life to restoring Notre-Dame after the tremendous damage inflicted on it during the French Revolution, and in the many years of political and social turbulence that followed. It is supposed to represent his ideal way of completing the church, if he had had an unlimited budget; I have seen a few people comment on their relief that he didn’t. Here is another rendering of the same idea, apparently based on the cathedral of Rheims.

While we are on the subject, it should be remembered that well before the Revolution, in the 17th-century, French churches underwent a first wave of vandalism with the destruction of countless rood screens. Here is a drawing of what the sanctuary area of Notre-Dame de Paris looked like before its was taken down at the beginning of the 18th century. Note the two circular structures with staircases inside them at the bottom left and right; these were used to reach the ambos on top of the screen, one in the middle of each side, from which the Epistle and Gospel were sung. (Our friends at Canticum Salomonis published some translations of a interesting treatise in defense of rood screens by Fr Jean-Baptiste Thiers, originally written in 1688.)

Fire at Notre Dame de Paris

As I am sure all of our readers have already seen, the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris has been severely damaged by a fire, which as of this writing is still burning; the wooden parts of the church, including the roof and spire, have collapsed. Nothing has been stated thus far as to the origin of the fire; there has been a wave of church vandalism episodes in France in the last few weeks, but the church was also undergoing a major restoration, and there have been many occasions on which disastrous fires broke out during restoration works. (The ancient Roman basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls was destroyed by fire in July of 1823, which began when workmen left a candle burning in the rafters.) We join all the Catholics of the world in praying for the church in Paris, and the preservation of whatever can be saved from the building; the relics of the Crown of Thorns acquired by St Louis IX, e.g. are kept there. We also pray for the safety of the firefighters, several hundred of whom are on the scene. En union de prière avec tous nous amis de la Schola Sainte-Cécile, et tous les catholiques de Paris.

UPDATE: One firefighter was seriously injured, but thus far, there has been no loss of human life. There have now been several confirmations of the report that the Crown of Thorns, St Louis’ tunic, and several other major relics were indeed rescued. There have also been several reports that the main structure of the church will apparently be salvaged.

Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis!
Sancte Dionysi, ora pro nobis!
Sancta Genovefa, ora pro nobis!

UPDATE: A friend sent me the link to this very moving video of people (mostly pretty young, it seems) singing the Ave Maria in French, in sight of the burning cathedral, on the other side of the Seine.

Mass of Thanksgiving for Summorum Pontificum in Notre-Dame de Paris

Here are some beautiful photos of a Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit, celebrated in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, in thanksgiving for Pope Benedict’s motu proprio Summorum Pontificum on recently passed tenth anniversary.

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“Historian Uses Lasers to Unlock Mysteries of Gothic Cathedrals” : An Interesting Article on NatGeo’s Website

The website of National Geographic has published just today an article about how an historian of Gothic art and architecture, Vassar College’s Professor Andrew Tallon, is applying laser technology to the study of some of the great Gothic cathedrals. It includes a video with an nice explanation of how lasers are used to make extremely precise measurements of the building, and some surprising results of the research. The video is most focused on the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., but the article talks about some of the great Gothic cathedrals like Notre Dame in Paris and the cathedral of Laon.

Thirteen million people visit the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris every year, entering through massive wooden doors at the base of towers as solidly planted as mountains. They stand in front of walls filigreed with stained glass and gaze at a ceiling supported by delicate ribs of stone. If its beauty and magnificence is instantly apparent, so much about Notre Dame is not.
With the help of 21st-century laser scanners, (Andrew Tallon) is teasing out clues hidden in the ancient stones of Notre Dame and other medieval structures—and revolutionizing our understanding of how these spectacular buildings were made. ...

The laser scans have led to surprising new information about Notre Dame’s builders. For one thing, they sometimes took shortcuts. Even though medieval builders strove to create perfect dwelling places for the spirit of God, Tallon’s scans reveal that the western end of the cathedral is “a total mess ... a train wreck.” The interior columns don’t line up and neither do some of the aisles. Rather than removing the remains of existing structures from the site, the workers appear to have built around them.
That cost cutting could have been catastrophic. Based on stylistic changes, scholars have long suspected that work on the western facade stopped for a while before the towers could be built. When Tallon scanned it, he discovered why. The Gallery of Kings—the line of statues above the three massive doorways—was almost a foot (.3 meters) out of plumb. Tallon concluded that the western facade, built on unstable soil, began leaning forward and to the north. Construction had to be halted until the builders could be confident that the ground had compressed enough to resume. After an anxious decade or so, it had.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

The portals of the west façade of Notre-Dame-de-Paris, with the Gallery of Kings above. Image from wikipedia by Benh Lieu Song.