The reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral continues. It is the Simon-Marq workshop, from Reims, which will be responsible, with the painter Claire Tabouret, for the new stained glass windows. They were chosen to create six glass roofs located in the south chapels of the cathedral. The opportunity to learn more about the Reims workshop, in five points.
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The news was announced on Wednesday December 18 by a joint press release from Notre-Dame, the Élysée and the archbishopric of Paris: the group formed by the Reims workshop Simon-Marq and the painter Claire Tabouret was selected by the artistic committee to create stained glass windows for Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and the Archbishop of Paris, were also consulted and gave a favorable opinion on this choice.
The new stained glass windows, six in number, will be placed in the chapels located on the south aisle of the nave. These windows represent a surface area of 121 m2, or a little less than 5% of the surface area of the stained glass windows in the cathedral. Requiring great know-how, they should be installed at the end of 2026, after their creation by the Reims workshop, which we invite you to discover:
A historic Reims workshop
The Simon-Marq workshop was born four centuries ago, in 1640, by the hand of Pierre Simon who created a small glass painted in enamels. He then became the first in a family line, spanning twelve generations, of illustrious master glassmakers. Then, in the 20th century, the Marq family joined the workshop following a marriage between master glassmakers and painters, with the couple taking over management.
This longevity makes the company the seventh oldest in France, the oldest in the city of Reims, in the Marne, but above all the oldest stained glass workshop in the world. And this, in particular thanks to its cathedral dating from the 13th century, which has been under construction for a long time and therefore required the know-how of the workshop.
Specializing in stained glass, from creation to restoration
Whether it is religious stained glass windows, for companies or individuals, such as Brad Pitt, but also works of art of all kinds, the Reims workshop can do it all. Master glassmakers undertake two main missions.
On the one hand the creation of contemporary stained glass windows, in close collaboration with artists such as Marc Chagall, Jean-Paul Agosti or Maria-Héléna Vieira da Silva. On the other hand restoration aimed at safeguarding heritage by contributing to the protection, preservation and enhancement of old stained glass windows “in strict compliance with traditional practices, while carefully following the evolution of processes”indicates the workshop on its site.
Stained glass windows in monuments around the world
Germany, Great Britain, France… In addition to Reims Cathedral, the reputation of the Simon-Marq workshop has allowed it to create stained glass windows now visible in numerous monuments around the world.
During the 20th century, a dozen different monuments were decorated. We can, for example, cite the Saint-Frambourg Chapel in Senlis in Oise, the Fraümunster church in Zurich, and the Tudeley church in England. More locally, we can also cite the Saint-Remi basilica in Reims, the Saint-Nicolas church in Rethel and the church in Vouziers, both in the Ardennes.
From drawing to installation… 10 steps carried out by the workshop
The fruit of centuries-old know-how, all stages of creating or restoring stained glass windows, which require numerous skills and several hundred hours of work, are mastered by the Simon-Marq workshop.
There are around ten stages in total. It all starts with the drawing of the lead line, in other words the drawing of the graphics on the scale of the stained glass window. Then comes the “report by smear”that is to say the exact reading, at real size, of the network of leads which holds the glass pieces. The latter, in fact, are chosen according to their color from mouth-blown glasses in an artisanal glassworks. 1,100 tones are stored in the glass sheet library.
Then they are cut, painted in detail, engraved and sanded. It is then time to assemble them using various techniques, before the stained glass windows, as a whole, are installed by the workshop itself.
A team of master glassmakers saved in 2019
17 people make up the stained glass workshop. Eight are glassmakers and two are conservator-restorers, including one also a glassmaker. More precisely, the people responsible for stained glass windows are called stained glass artists or master glassmakers.
As his name suggests, a glassmaker is an artisan who makes or restores glass objects. A fragile material that requires precise and safe movements, all in a workshop where working conditions can be demanding.
Since January 2021, he has moved to the Sacré-Cœur church in Reims with the desire to open it to visits. In 2019, the workshop, prey to competition with self-employed entrepreneurs, was placed in liquidation and saved at the last minute by the takeover of Champenois Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, president of the champagne house and business manager Philippe Varin.
