France's president has accused France of turning a storied medieval cathedral into a vanity project as he moves forward with replacing historic stained glass windows left in a fire as a “modern gesture”.
Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral was severely damaged in a fire in April 2019, but heroic efforts to save the building and billions of dollars in donations allowed it to reopen just before Christmas. Concerns about modernist reinterpretation were set aside. terribly out of place Modernist works have already been introduced indoors.
Much of the cathedral was destroyed, but thanks to the quick work of the Parisian pompiers it avoided complete collapse and, incredibly, even the stained glass in some of the chapels survived the heat. Ta. These historic windows date back to the church's restoration in the 19th century, are part of the architect's unified overall Gothic Revival aesthetic, and have already been cleaned and restored as part of Notre Dame's revival. I am.
Glass of the 19th century Notre-Dame chapel by architect Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc / Bence Kiss Debrony / Unsplash
However, preparations are now reportedly underway for its demolition to allow for an “inventive reconstruction” and “contemporary architectural gesture” that President Emmanuel Macron has long aspired to. The idea that these existing stained glass windows could be removed and replaced has been known for some time, but British newspapers observer Memo now Despite the opposition of art, culture and celebrities, it is nevertheless being promoted now.
L.A.-based French “figurative” artist Claire Tabbouleh has designed six new windows (pictured, above) to replace six 1844 windows that survived a 2019 fire, and President Macron of the Republic It is said that he has the support of both the church and the church. But critics say their support for the project is of little value, since the worst architectural and artistic damage inflicted on French religion in modern times has been caused by the church itself. It points out that there is a possibility.
For example, the Académie des Beaux-Arts believes that if President Macron was serious about introducing modernist glass into the cathedral, he would rather not consign the surviving actual historical glass to a museum. He suggests that it could be carried out at the north tower, which was damaged during the war. .
observer Quoting Didier Lichner, an ardent defender of history and faithful reconstruction of Notre Dame and hailed by some as France's “appointed heritage sheriff,” he called the plan “absolutely ridiculous.” I called it. He told the newspaper: “It would be completely ridiculous to remove the remaining windows that were left undamaged by the fire and replace them with other windows. I'm not opposed to modern windows per se. But there is no reason to replace these windows. Moreover, the money donated by people for the renovation of Notre Dame has already been spent on cleaning it.
“It's completely ridiculous. I've heard that the Viollet-le-Duc windows are going to be displayed in a museum. They don't belong to a museum, they belong to Notre Dame. They don't belong anywhere other than the cathedral. It makes no sense for them to be on display; their only interest is in the field.”
Breitbart reported on Lichner's crusade in 2013, noting that he not only failed to prevent the fire, did not learn a lesson from it, and endangered other historic buildings, but also caused it himself out of fear. He accused the French state of doing little to investigate the matter. It will reveal an inconvenient truth.
He said: “No one wants to take responsibility for these failures…The company doing the work at the time of the fire is the same company that undertook the restoration project, so no one would be interested in taking responsibility back.” there is no.”
As previously reported:
Within days of the fire, a group of modernist architects, “lovers of concrete lobbies and iron,” began touring the still-warm ruins and generating ideas for a less-than-faithful reconstruction. Various plans were seriously considered, including a glass roof, a steel spire, an “erect phallus” surrounded by “balls of gold” and even a pool.
The question of whether to go in a traditional or modern direction was debated in parliament for several months, with the traditionalists ultimately winning, but only by a narrow margin.
For more information, visit Breitbart London.
