The famous Gothic cathedral, ravaged on April 15, 2019 by a gigantic fire, is being restored, before its reopening planned in 2024.
Le Monde with AFP
Except for the benches, of which they want to first see a prototype, and the maintenance of statues of saints in the chapels, the experts of heritage, together on Thursday, December 9, gave their green light to the future internal redevelopment of our Lady of Paris, who partially burned in April 2019.
Experts have “validated a program that includes a number of principles. They have agreed in particular on the central liturgical axis and the furniture (baptistery, altar, tabernacle) which will have to be designed by the same creator “, Senator (LR) Albéric de Montgolfier, President of the National Heritage and Architecture Commission (CNA), in which the experts met.
On the other hand, on the other hand, “issued reservations about wheeled benches, with lights, and first want to see a prototype that will be submitted to the Commission again. Their access to the crypt must also be repreciated”, added the senator.
Experts also reject the displacement of statues of Saints dating from Viollet-le-Duc (architect to whom was entrusted with the restoration of the cathedral from 1844 to 1879) who were on the altars of the chapels and that the diocese had Considered to install along the great pillars of the cathedral, according to M. de Montgolfier.
Finally, “they also oppose the transformation of the choir in a prayer space, fearing that the soil, which dates from the XVIII e-sup> to be damaged by the passage of the faithful and tourists “, again said the senator.
Reopening planned in 2024
The diocese intends to take advantage of the restoration of the famous Gothic cathedral, ravaged on April 15, 2019 by a gigantic fire which had upset the whole world, to offer it a new youth, before its reopening planned in 2024. The cathedral welcomed 12 million visitors and organized 2,500 offices and 150 concerts each year before the fire.
“No object or table that was in the cathedral before the fire will not come out,” said M. de Montgolfier. The Ministry of Culture reaffirmed on its side that contemporary works should take place by their side, but “no artist’s name is still arrested,” he said.
The French father of Ernest Pignon-Ernest Street Art, Anselm Kiefer or Louise Bourgeois were mentioned for “dialogue” with ancient masters such as brothers the dwarf or Charles Le Brun.
Virulent reviews
Notre-Dame’s liturgical redevelopment has aroused virulent criticism. Such proposals “denature [NT] entirely the decor and the liturgical space”, affirm a hundred personalities, including the animator Stéphane Bern or the philosopher Alain Finkielkraut, in A forgot published Tuesday in Figaro and the Tribune of Art.
“Respect the work of Viollet-le-Duc, respect the work of artists and craftsmen who have worked to offer us this jewel,” they add, denouncing a project where according to them “Niisiery the dispute Kitsch “.
On the advertised renewal menu: a ventilated course for tourists and faithful from all over a clean central axis, of the nave to the choir, with a “deep cleaning” of the 14 chapels, already very dilapidated before the fire. This cleaning should make it possible to rediscover the “Mays”, great altar paintings ordered each year to great artists, between 1630 and 1707, by the corporation of the goldsmiths which offered them at the cathedral.