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- France, second third of the 13th century
Fragment of the rood screen of Notre-Dame
Photo: Didier Rykner - See the image in its page
We know that the salvage excavations at the transept crossing of Notre-Dame have found, as might be expected, some of the sculptures from the 13th-century rood screen destroyed in the 18th century. We were able to release previously unpublished photos of some of these works while they were still in the ground (see news item of 25/3/22). This had been possible thanks to the authorisation of the public institution responsible for the conservation and restoration of Notre-Dame, which has always been open to our requests, both for the articles we have written and for the book we will soon be publishing on the subject [1].
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Institut National de Recherche Archéologique Préventive (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research), another public institution, which was in charge of these excavations and which reports to the Ministry of Culture. When we asked to see all the fragments of the rood screen that had been unearthed and that are currently being kept for study in an unknown location, its president Dominique Garcia replied: "Unfortunately, after the excavation and until the study is completed, this will not be possible. I hope to be able to give you a favourable answer at the beginning of the year}". A reply is therefore possible (but not certain) at the beginning of 2024, i.e. at best two years after the discovery of the sculptures and three months after the publication of our book.
These works, discovered by a public institution and financed by public money, do not belong to this public institution, whose role is also to disseminate knowledge. It would be legitimate for us to be able to specify exactly in our book, and also on our website, the number, size, quality and subjects of these sculptures, about which virtually nothing is known at present.
It is likely that requests made by other journalists would be treated in the same way, and we make no claim to being discriminated against by INRAP. On the other hand, this once again raises the question of the withholding of information by public institutions. Can good reasons be put forward for denying us access to these works, such as those relating to their preventive conservation? This does not seem to be the case: INRAP, to whom we asked for an explanation for this refusal, did not reply this time.
Or is it a clear desire not to communicate anything on the subject? We know that the Ministry of Culture considers that there is no debate about continuing excavations in the choir, a project that it refuses to complete (see this article). However, the importance of these sculptures, if they were to be widely known and revealed by photographs distributed to the general public, would certainly prompt public opinion to demand that those that have yet to be found be brought to light (between a third and a half, according to the archaeologists we interviewed).
In September, the French President of the Republic wants to organise a national conference on information, one of the aims of which is to "give journalists the best possible framework in which to fulfil their essential mission". However, the communication surrounding this event never mentions one of the biggest obstacles to journalistic work: the withholding of information by administrations, the State and local authorities. We could add to this two examples among others: the refusal by the Ministry of Culture to release the files on national treasures, and the impossibility of obtaining from Paris City Council the specifications for the competition to redevelop the area around Notre-Dame.