Stained Glass Windows at Notre Dame: Towards a Legal Battle?

During the preliminary discussions on the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris, on the point of deciding if it should be done “identically,” the unanimity of competent circles – historical monuments, heritage architects, art historians – had called for this solution. However, President Emmanuel Macron had decided commission the creation of some contemporary stained glass windows in December 2023.

The decision concerns the replacement of six grisaille stained glass windows in the south aisle, made by Viollet-le-Duc during the restoration that followed the Revolution. These windows are classified as Historic Monuments, and, as such, are normally untouchable, unless they are partially destroyed or so dilapidated that they cannot be repaired. Which is not the case.

On July 11, the National Commission for Heritage and Architecture, which had been consulted on the issue, gave its verdict: the twenty-six experts unanimously rejected this creation and replacement. They relied in particular on the International Charter on the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites, known as the Venice Charter, of 1965.

“In this charter, it is stated that the removal of a work of art protected as a historic monument can only be justified by its poor condition, which would endanger it,” explained Alexandre Gady. “It is therefore absolutely contrary to all conservation rules to attack it,” explained the art historian in La Croix. But the Heritage Commission could only give an advisory opinion.

The Ministry of Culture Continues Its Plan

Despite this rejection and the many protests, the Ministry of Culture has continued the project of President Macron and Laurent Ulrich, Archbishop of Paris, “in a press release, it made public on September 4 the list of the eight selected finalists who will have to submit their final project by November 4,” quotes La Croix.

The newspaper specifies that “the winner, who will be chosen by the Archbishop of Paris and the President of the Republic, would be announced when the cathedral reopens on December 8.” The eight finalists are: Jean-Michel Alberola, Yan Pei-Ming, Gérard Traquandi, Daniel Buren, Philippe Parreno, Claire Tabouret, Christine Safa, and Flavie Vincent-Petit.

An Association Takes Up the Legal Challenge

The Sites and Monuments Association, “on the heritage front since 1901,” states its website, has the objective and mission of “defending natural and built heritage.” It prides itself on being the “oldest French association for the defense of heritage, recognized as being of public utility since 1936 and approved at the national level for the protection of the environment since 1978.”

On the website, among the “files,” a page is devoted to the Viollet-le-Duc stained glass case, and indicates that the association is preparing “to lead the legal battle.” La Croix specifies that the association will attack “the application for authorization of works that must be filed with the regional prefect to carry out this project.”

The newspaper quotes Julien Lacaze, president of the association: “The grisaille stained glass windows of Viollet-le-Duc are classified as Historic Monuments and cannot therefore be removed to make way for contemporary works.” He insists: “We must stop the unraveling of Viollet-le-Duc’s work and return to the coherence he wanted by also reintegrating elements removed well before the fire, such as the crown of light or the choir grille,” removed by the clergy.

A 2021 article in La Tribune de l’Art describes the interior damage of the cathedral’s rich furnishings dating from Viollet-le-Duc’s restoration by a modernist and iconoclastic clergy, damage emphasized by a very explicit title: “The liturgy, a pretext for a new denaturation of Notre-Dame.” It contains representations of the elements thus eliminated.

The Return of the Great Voice of Notre-Dame de Paris

To end on a more joyful note, it must be reported that the Paris cathedral saw the return of the eight bells of its north tower after a stay in Normandy: Gabriel, Anne-Geneviève, Denis, Marcel, Etienne, Benoît-Joseph, Maurice and Jean-Marie. Like all bells, they were baptized – the consecration of bells is called a “baptism” – and therefore bear a first name.

The Notre-Dame de Paris website explains that Gabriel pays homage to the Archangel of the Annunciation, Anne-Geneviève to Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, and to Saint Geneviève, patron saint of Paris; Denis refers to the first bishop of the capital, and Marcel to the ninth; Etienne recalls the old cathedral that had this patron and Benedict-Joseph, Pope Benedict XVI; Maurice is for Maurice de Sully, who laid the first stone in 1163; finally, Jean-Marie is for Cardinal Lustiger.

Weighing between 750 kilos for Jean-Marie and 4 tons for Gabriel, “they had been removed after the fire to be refurbished in the Cornille Havard foundry” located in Villedieu-les-Poêles, a major center of bell manufacturing in Normandy, reports RTL. They were blessed before their return and will be put back in place in the coming weeks.