A first visit to the restored Notre-Dame

In recent months, the restoration of Notre-Dame has restored the building’s familiar silhouette to the Paris skyline (ill. 1). The spire is rising again, exactly like the one that disappeared in the fire, proving de facto that the choice to rebuild it identically was the right one. We can only admire this work, carried out so quickly without any real need. The work will continue, however, as the cathedral is far from having been fully restored: while the fire damage has been repaired, much of the exterior still needs to be treated, with the exception of the façade, which was repaired a few years ago.

But what about the interior, where the work is now complete? The result, let’s say straight away, is very satisfactory. While some people, perhaps because they have only seen it on television, are already complaining that the cathedral is too white, we believe that this is not the case (ill. 2 and 3). Readers of La Tribune de l’Art know that we are the first to denounce the sometimes abusive restorations, as has unfortunately been the case for a very long time at Versailles. But this is no such thing: the stone has been cleaned of the grime that had accumulated over more than a century. We had visited the site (see article) and noted that the cleaning seemed to have been carried out in a careful manner [1].

If the result is surprising, it’s because we’re not used to it any more. The…