300,000!

Never had a petition on a heritage matter achieved such success, by a very long way, in any country. The one we launched, two years ago now, to oppose the plan to replace the stained-glass windows by Viollet-le-Duc, passed 300,000 signatures during the night (as we publish this, it stands at 302,935).
Of course, the main person responsible, Emmanuel Macron, does not give a fig for the almost unanimous opposition to his intention, just as he does not care about the threats hanging over the Bayeux Tapestry (see the articles) or the folly of his plan for the Louvre (see the articles). The French President of the Republic has long lived in a parallel world, where heritage is merely an instrument in his hands, most of the time in a direction harmful to its preservation.

But the fight is far from over. Even if a first battle has been lost (see the article), the war against presidential vandalism is not. The association Sites & Monuments has appealed the ruling handed down at first instance and, given the court’s reasoning, stands a strong chance of winning. Above all, the main legal action — beginning with an emergency application against the work authorisation, followed by a full case on the merits — is still to come. And even if the emergency action were to fail, the installation of the windows would not mark the end of the struggle, since the operation is reversible, and the substantive case also has every chance of succeeding. Finally, if need be, if all these actions were to prove fruitless, we would continue to fight so that this replacement of stained-glass windows may one day be overturned and the return to Viollet-le-Duc’s arrangement decided.

If the petition is rising again, it is no doubt because the cartoons for Claire Tabouret’s windows are on display at the Grand Palais for several months. We had refused to attack the winning proposal, because what we contest is the replacement of stained-glass windows that are classified, untouched by the fire, and even cleaned. We are not, in principle, against contemporary stained-glass windows in ancient buildings, provided none already exist. That is not the case here. And even had the new windows been beautiful, we would still oppose their installation.

But — and this is an understatement — it so happens that Claire Tabouret’s work is of striking mediocrity, which even surprised us. Against a background that pastiches the stained-glass windows it replaces (this is very noticeable in the upper part — ill. 3 and 4), she has overlaid scenes of glaring ugliness, in garish colours, executed with astonishing weakness (ill. 5 and 6), and with very little imaginative substance. Above all, the artist shows that she understands nothing of what a stained-glass window is, nor how it is conceived. The tracery — the stone framework that supports it — has always been visually integrated, leaving the viewer to imagine that it stands above the design. Yet Claire Tabouret appears to have made her cartoons and then cut them up so that they fit either side of the tracery. The result is dismal: the figures appear cut apart, the continuity of the characters no longer exists. Heads are split in two (ill. 7), arms are oversized (ill. 8), nothing holds together. This is clearly not an artistic choice — which would itself be questionable — but the result of a complete misunderstanding of the exercise she has undertaken, and which plainly exceeds her.

Out of six windows, two depict landscapes (ill. 9 and 10). Unlike the others, they are fairly successful and would not necessarily look out of place in another building, to fill bays that lack glazing. But they have no legitimacy in Notre-Dame.

So works conceived by Viollet-le-Duc, forming a coherent ensemble with the décor and the other stained-glass windows, will be replaced with strange and alien bodies. In one of the most outstanding monuments of French heritage. Without even considering that dimension — which lies outside our remit — how can one fail to notice that any religious spirit is entirely absent from this supposed representation of Pentecost? There is nothing to salvage in this shipwreck, which will cost four million euros, and probably much more, as is already being whispered.

This is why it is more necessary than ever to pursue our opposition. By continuing to sign the petition, and by helping the association Sites & Monuments to finance its legal actions. You can support them from this page. More than ever, we will not relent.