Tea at Trianon: New Stained-glass Windows at Notre Dame de Paris

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, December 22, 2024

New Stained-glass Windows at Notre Dame de Paris

From The Catholic World Report:

The windows in six chapels on the southern side of the cathedral will be replaced with new windows designed by modern French painter Claire Tabouret. According to a report from RTE, the French state is paying $4 million to install the windows, which will be made by French stained-glass maker Simon-Marq.
The original windows, created in the 19th century by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, had escaped the fire without damage. Several historic preservation groups have protested President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to replace them, including Sites et Monuments and Tribune de l’art, whose site manager launched a petition against the new windows that has garnered 244,833 signatures.

Born in France in 1981, Tabouret graduated from École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 2006. Her paintings and sculptures have been featured in museums across the globe in France, Hong Kong, and Venice. She has also collaborated with luxury designers such as Dior. Tabouret currently lives and works in Los Angeles, according to her website.

Tabouret’s turquoise, pink, yellow, and red windows feature images of people from various cultural backgrounds celebrating Pentecost.

In response to debates surrounding modernist updates to the historic Catholic cathedral, Tabouret stated during a press conference at the cathedral: “I’ve read about different opinions of people because I want to understand their arguments and also to take an approach that is open and two-way.” (Read more.)

From ArtNet:

The €4 million ($4.2 million) plan to replace the 19th-century glass, announced by Macron last December, immediately sparked controversy in the French capital. For, you see, the cathedral’s windows were miraculously spared by the devastating blaze. (In total, Notre-Dame contains close to 1,100 square feet of stained glass.)

Because the lead roof melted and collapsed, the stained glass became coated in toxic lead powder, requiring an extensive—and careful—cleaning and conservation of the delicate panes. Replacing any of the existing glass, however, actually proved unnecessary.

That means that swapping the historic windows for contemporary designs is potentially in violation of the 1964 Venice Charter, which provides guidelines for preserving historic buildings. It states that “items of sculpture, painting or decoration, which form an integral part of a monument, may only be removed if this is the sole means of ensuring their preservation,” and that “the valid contributions of all periods to the building of a monument must be respected.” (Read more.)