At Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, the stained glass war has only just begun – Libération

Replace listed 19th century stained glass windows found intact after the 2019 fire with more contemporary ones: while the finalists of the competition launched by Emmanuel Macron defend their proposal this Wednesday, the project, considered a “doing of the prince”, will be attacked in court by heritage defenders.

The resumption of the political fire is expected to occur shortly. As soon as the cathedral reopens on December 7 and 8? It is probably on these dates that the winner of the competition launched in December 2023 by Emmanuel Macron in agreement with the clergy for the installation of contemporary stained glass windows in Notre-Dame de Paris will be announced. On Monday, the eight finalists of the competition submitted their projects before a grand oral scheduled for Wednesday. In fact, over the next few weeks, while the artistic committee will study the different proposals for bays for the six chapels on the south aisle of the nave of the cathedral, and whatever the aesthetic and liturgical relevance of the selected project, the oldest association heritage protection in France, Sites & Monuments, will bring together its final arguments before taking legal action against any authorization to modify the historic building issued by the regional prefect. If they fail, 21st century stained glass windows will be installed in 2026 in place of the “grisailles” (decorative stained glass windows with geometric patterns) by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, which were found intact after the 2019 fire. 19th century, they will be preserved and exhibited in a new museum, the Museum of the Work of Notre-Dame.

In the international community of artists, Christians, historians of religions, art and heritage, many are enthusiastic about discovering the works of Jean-Michel Alberola, Daniel Buren, Claire Tabouret, Phi