While we cannot forget the tragic human toll of the explosion that took place at the Val-de-Grâce on 21 June, with at least one dead, four seriously injured and around fifty more slightly injured, it is nonetheless our duty to take stock of the very significant damage to property that was also caused by this tragedy.
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- 1. Daniel Marot the Elder (1661 or 1663-1752)
View of the Church and Abbey of Val-de-Grâce, c. 1680
Etching - 27.3 x 39.2 cm
London, Royal Academy of Arts
Photo: Royal Academy of Arts - See the image in its page
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- 2. North guardhouse of the Val-de-Grâce
before its restoration
Photo: Gabriel Ruprich-Robert/
Médiathèque de l’architecture
et du patrimoine - See the image in its page
Far from being a simple "building", as almost all the reports on the disaster described it, the edifice that collapsed in its entirety, 277 rue Saint-Jacques, was first and foremost a historic monument of major importance, built in the 17th century by Pierre Le Muet, the architect responsible for completing the Val-de-Grâce monastery built on the initiative of Anne of Austria.
As is often the case with classical architecture, the monument’s main courtyard is enclosed by a gate on either side of which the guard pavilions were built symmetrically (ill. 1).
The south pavilion, on the right as you look towards the church, had remained virtually intact, while the left pavilion, now destroyed, had been raised by two storeys, as can be seen in old photographs (ill. 2). During the restoration of the Val-de-Grâce, which began in 1975 under the direction of Yves Boiret, the chief architect of historic monuments, he removed the interfering storeys and restored the roof to its original state (ill. 3). It wasn’t very complex: in addition to period documents, all that was needed was to reproduce the one opposite (ill. 4).
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- 3. Pierre Le Muet (1591-1669)
North guardhouse of the Val-de-Grâce
277 rue Saint Jacques, in 2011
Photo: LPLT (CC BY-SA 3.0) - See the image in its page
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- 4. Pierre Le Muet (1591-1669)
South guardhouse of the Val-de-Grâce
277 rue Saint Jacques, in 2011
Photo: Mbzt (CC BY 3.0) - See the image in its page
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- 5. North guardhouse of the
Val-de-Grâce destroyed in the explosion
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
Practically nothing more exists of this building (ill. 5). The entire Val-de-Grâce, an outstanding historic monument and one of the most important 17th-century ensembles in Paris, has thus been amputated. It is obviously too early, as the rubble has not yet been completely cleared or the exact origin of the disaster identified, to be asking how the reconstruction will be financed and carried out. However, it is important to state now something that would have seemed obvious a few years ago, but which today, as we have seen in a number of recent cases (notably at Notre-Dame), is curiously not self-evident: this pavilion must be rebuilt identically, to restore the Val-de-Grâce abbey to its original appearance.
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- 6. Yves Boiret Agency
Drawing for the project to restore the north and south guardhouses
Charenton-le-Pont, Médiathèque du patrimoine et de l’architecture
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
Nothing could be easier. For in addition to the historical elements and the model of the south pavilion that we have already mentioned, we will have at our disposal the many plans and elevations that Yves Boiret had given to the Ministry of Culture and which are now at the Médiathèque du Patrimoine. We reproduce some of them here (ill. 6 to 10). It should be noted that the architect had also donated to the Val-de-Grâce [1] the photographs he had taken during the restoration work, which we would have liked to find again to see what the interior of the guardhouse looked like. We contacted the Val-de-Grâce library and museum, but so far they have not been able to find them.
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- 7. Yves Boiret Agency
Drawing of the north guardhouse before restoration, with the extension
Charenton-le-Pont, Médiathèque du patrimoine et de l’architecture
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 8. Yves Boiret Agency
Drawing for the project to restore the north guardhouse
Charenton-le-Pont, Médiathèque du patrimoine et de l’architecture
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 9. Yves Boiret Agency
Perspective view of the main courtyard
of the Val-de-Grâce (on the right, the north pavilion)
Charenton-le-Pont, Médiathèque du patrimoine et de l’architecture
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 10. Yves Boiret Agency
Drawing of the cushioning principles of the pediments of the north pavilion
Charenton-le-Pont, Médiathèque du patrimoine et de l’architecture
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
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- 11. Stained glass window on the façade of the Val-de-Grâce church, partly blown out by the explosion
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
Other heritage damage is to be deplored. It can be seen from the outside that the stained glass window on the façade of the Val-de-Grâce church was partly blown out (ill. 11). As for the three buildings to the left of the pavilion, 271, 273 and 275 de la rue Saint Jacques (ill. 12), they have been placed in a state of peril. It is obvious that once they have been consolidated (one of them has already been propped up) they will also have to be restored, as these are likewise three listed historic monuments whose façades and roofs on the street, as well as the staircase banisters, were registered in 1968. The protection file, kept at the Médiathèque du patrimoine et de l’architecture, states that "the three buildings 271, 273 and 275 on the rue St Jacques, between the Schola Cantorum and the corner pavilion of the courtyard of honour of the Val-de-Grâce, have the same architectural layout; inside, the wrought iron banisters are identical. What we have here is an ensemble, a continuity of 17th-century buildings. Like the Schola Cantorum, they were part of the Benedictine convent, rebuilt in 1671; they were probably rental buildings. We believe that this whole ensemble should be protected and maintained".
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- 12. View of the registered 17th-century buildings
at 271, 273 and 275 rue Saint Jacques, after the explosion
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
Finally, it should be noted that all these buildings, including the north pavilion which for incomprehensible reasons had been sold by the State a long time ago [2], are privately owned. Clearly, if insurance were not enough to restore them, the Ministry of Culture would have to provide additional funding.