They never doubted. Erect a masterful framework in the style of the 13th century, repair the vaults, touch the sky and, above all, meet the five-year deadline set by President Emmanuel Macron for the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris… Believers or atheists, the companions of the construction site of the century have kept the faith because they are the heirs of the great tradition of cathedral builders. As evidenced by their guide, Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect of historic monuments. An enthusiast who knows everything about the construction, the nooks and crannies and secrets of the building. He loves her so much that he has a tattoo of the rosette on his heart and that of the arrow on his arm.
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On April 16, 2019, while the ashes were still hot, his mind split in two: “One part was dead, the other immediately took over to lead the rescue with coldness and authority. The monument had to be secured, then decontaminated due to lead, and finally rebuilt. The day after the fire, I knew it was playable. At the risk of sounding a little glib, what had we really lost? A roof, a spire… We selected the best craftsmen and the spirit of fraternity did the rest. » Thus, from the black horror, full of soot, flotsam and tears, light resurfaced. “Over the months, I saw the silhouette of Notre-Dame reborn,” continues Philippe Villeneuve. With each of his wounds closed, I rebuilt myself. The cathedral has today found a beauty that we had forgotten because we no longer even saw it before the tragedy. »
Last major restoration in the 19th century
The last major restoration, carried out following Victor Hugo’s cry of alarm and supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, dates from the 19th century. And apart from a major cleaning of its western facade in the 1990s for an amount of 21 million francs at the time, the Gothic star silently suffered the affronts of time, to the point that God’s creatures had fallen on their heads . Crushed chimeras, decapitated gargoyles, they lay under a makeshift shelter, in the garden located at the foot of the building. The desolation continued everywhere on the heights. Terraces littered with broken blocks and piles of fallen stones. Balustrades patched with boards. The pinnacles, necessary to counterbalance the flying buttresses, seemed to melt like ice cream. Some were belted, others wore patches of wood and iron. The tracery that held the stained glass windows was crumbling to dust. Meanwhile, the angel of the Apocalypse, split in two and withered one wing, observed the decrepitude. Eaten away by acid rain and pollution, the 861-year-old stone lady became gangrenous, suffocated and died. For a long time, however, we refused to see the disgrace. Until Andrew Tallon (died in 2018), professor of medieval art history on the faculty of Vassar College (United States) and specialist in the virtual representation of cathedrals, sounded the alarm. In 2013, he carried out a three-dimensional laser survey of Notre-Dame. He comes out stunned by the damage, but no one wants to listen to him. When he returned, two years later, this time he took André Finot, then responsible for communications at Notre-Dame, to the heights, who quickly became aware of the disaster.
Despite the scale of the work necessary, André Finot decided to repair the sacrileges. In all, 150 million euros must be gleaned to remove the threats of collapse and stop tinkering. Because Notre-Dame opens the doors to the whole world, the idea of patronage is essential. The Americans, in particular, are crazy about the large ship anchored in the heart of Paris. In May 2017, the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris association was born, André Finot toured the United States with Philippe de Cuverville, the cardinal’s right-hand man, and Michel Picaud, a former engineer, to tour the rich portfolios . By pleading the cause of the building, the dollars began to rain in: 3.2 million euros were raised and the State committed to paying 1 euro in subsidy for each euro of patronage collected. The project kicked off on April 11, 2019, already under the leadership of Philippe Villeneuve. The copper statues of the twelve apostles and the four evangelists surrounding the spire are dismantled. Among them, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, who represented himself as the apostle Thomas, patron saint of architects, turned towards his work. Notre-Dame finally enters intensive care. But we know the rest. Four days later, an infernal blaze devoured the jewel of Christianity. For now, the causes of the fire still remain a mystery. “Diabolus fecit hoc!” » (the devil did it), as they say in the Vatican…
Center of the world
While a week earlier Notre-Dame de Paris was dying in its corner, it suddenly becomes the center of the world. Better, a political affair. As soon as the last flames have been extinguished, ego quarrels swell and tempers become heated. The debate is becoming deafening. An international architectural competition is announced, then abandoned. We finally opted for an identical reconstruction of the arrow. A national subscription is launched, donations are pouring in. The sums promised reach 843 million euros. Unheard of, especially for a “stone Bible” some joke. In order to manage this colossal windfall and oversee the restoration work, a public establishment was created under the nose of the Ministry of Culture, which, until now, thought that the monument belonged to it. Because he wants to move quickly, President Macron appoints General Jean-Louis Georgelin (who died in 2023 and has since been replaced by his deputy Philippe Jost) as head of this new institution. The man knows how to play on his authoritarianism or his humor, it depends. The atmosphere is weighing down. As soon as they have permission, the companions and artisans (around 2,000 from all over France) communicate, happy to share ancestral know-how and practices.
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Carpenters, roofers, stonemasons, scaffolders led by Didier Cuiset, maestro of steel lace, rope access technicians, organ builders, restorer of stained glass and paintings, locksmiths, engineers, founders and campanists, upholsterers, researchers, experts and curators of the Drac (regional directorate of cultural affairs), loggers… they are the soul of the resurrection of Notre-Dame. A good restoration cannot be seen. Faithful to the original spirit of the cathedral, they therefore worked “like God in the universe: present everywhere, visible nowhere”, Flaubert could have said. And then came on the scene, at the request and at the expense of the diocese of Paris (for an amount which it does not wish to communicate), the contemporary creators in order to redevelop the interior of the cathedral, in resonance with the blondness of the stone of 42,000 square meters of walls and vaults.
See you on December 7
“The instruction was the noble simplicity of the Catholic liturgy,” indicates Mgr Ribadeau Dumas, rector of Notre-Dame. Jean-Charles de Castelbajac has rethought paramentics: chasubles, stoles, copes… which will clothe the 170 bishops, 700 priests and 700 deacons expected at the reopening celebration. Guillaume Bardet was entrusted with the altar, the cathedra, the ambo, the baptistery and the tabernacle. Each piece was cast in bronze so that it interacts with the golden hue of the stone and the flow of colors from the stained glass windows. Bardet also signs vases and religious objects illuminated with gold and silver. As for designer Ionna Vautrin, she played with light to design openwork oak seats, all in humility, crafted in Landes carpentry. Some of these 1,500 chairs were blessed on November 18, the day before their departure for Paris. In the Ateliers Saint-Jacques, in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, designer Sylvain Dubuisson is refining the new reliquary, a gigantic case (3.65 meters high by 2.85 meters wide) which will house the crown of thorns, treasure of Christianity, but also a fragment of the wood of the Cross and a nail from the crucifixion.
After a first speech by Emmanuel Macron scheduled for November 29 on the square in front of Notre-Dame, the long-awaited ceremonies will begin on December 7. The symbolic opening of the cathedral, the first of the rites, will be celebrated by the Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Ulrich, who will knock on the doors with his episcopal crosier. Then will come the awakening of the great organ, the voice of the building. From the fire, the curator of historical monuments Marie-Hélène Didier and the chief architect Philippe Villeneuve wanted only one stigma to remain: a drop of lead falling on the hand of Christ from Nicolas’s Pietà Coustou, installed in the choir in the 18th century. As a final symbol of the suffering experienced.
