To cap off 2023, French authorities lifted a new golden phoenix atop Paris’ Notre Dame to signal that the building’s restoration is close to completion. However, not everyone is excited with how the nearly thousand year cathedral will be re-presented. Namely, there is a proposed plan to install new contemporary stained-glass windows, which has been met with heavy criticism.
French publication La Tribune de l’Art created an online petition demanding that architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s original windows be kept at Notre Dame. While undamaged in the 2019 fire, French president Emmanuel Macron proposed a competition on December 8 calling contemporary artists to submit designs for six of seven windows in the cathedral’s south aisle. Macron outlined that the original windows would be on view at a forthcoming museum chronicling Notre Dame’s restoration process.
Didier Rykner, La Tribune de l’Art‘s founder, argued that there would be no sense to install new works, as the original windows emphasized “architectural unity and a hierarchy of space.” He continued in an op-ed, stating: “What sense does it make to restore the cathedral to its last known historical state (before 15 April 2019), that of Viollet-le-Duc, only to deprive the building of an essential element that Viollet-le-Duc wanted? Who gave the Head of State a mandate to alter a cathedral that does not belong to him, but to everyone?”
The latest proposal to include newer artwork within Notre Dame comes after a similarly shot down plan in 2020. As it stands, the cathedral is set to reopen to the public in December 2024 and will continue to have minor renovations made until 2028.
