New twist in the contemporary stained glass dispute

“Unfavorable opinion” on the removal of the 19th century stained glass windows, installed by Viollet-le-Duc in the southern side chapels of Notre-Dame de Paris. This is the verdict of the National Commission for Heritage and Architecture (CNPA) meeting on July 11. This consultative commission was to examine the project presented by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, on December 8, 2023 to replace, in 2026, six of these windows with contemporary works. It rejected the project unanimously by its twenty-six members: “lThe National Commission recalls that artistic creation in historic monuments cannot lead to the sacrifice of heritage elements of public interest from a historical or artistic point of view. “specifies Albéric de Montgolfier, president of the CNPA, in a press release.

An attitude that is not very surprising: the CNPA brings together experts in Historic Monuments and professionals from the Ministry of Culture who, since 1965, have relied daily on a document called the “Venice Charter”. This charter defines the internationally recognized rules for good restoration: thus, contemporary creation is entirely possible on a historic monument, but only to replace parts that were destroyed or never completed: this is how Marc Chagall was able to create his stained glass windows in Metz, the old windows not having survived the Second World War; or how the Notre-Dame de la Treille cathedral in Lille, built in the 19th century, was finally given a contemporary façade designed by the architect Pierre-Louis Carlier in 1999.

And even when a monument is damaged, the Venice Charter specifies that if one has all the necessary documentation to rebuild identically, this solution is preferable.

In 2020, it was precisely by virtue of this rule that the CNPA had declared itself in favour of an identical reconstruction of the spire of Notre-Dame de Paris, also designed by Viollet-le-Duc in 1859. Emmanuel Macron then sided with the opinion of these experts.

Will he do the same today? The question remains, because the Ministry of Culture published a press release on Friday curiously explaining that “the National Commission will be consulted again at the end of 2024 to examine the winning project (for the contemporary stained glass windows, editor’s note) that will have been selected. At that time, it will be able to assess, based on the project, the interest for the cathedral of the contribution of this creation.” In other words, heritage experts could change their minds if the contemporary project is magnificent… The hypothesis is not very credible since their argument is not based on the quality of what would replace the current stained glass windows.

Already, “out of respect” for the Commission’s vote, the visual artist Pascal Convert, associated with the master glassmaker Olivier Juteau and the Lorin house, who was among the seven pre-selected artists, withdrew from the competition. And observers from the world of Culture point out that the current minister, Rachida Dati, may no longer be in office at the end of the year.

While the petition to refuse the removal of the 19th century stained glass windows has now reached nearly 142,000 signatures, the archdiocese remains, for the moment, withdrawn from the debate. However, Bishop Ulrich had been associated with this creation of stained glass windows, and had decided on the iconographic program, each stained glass window having to deal with a verse from the Acts of the Apostles linked to Pentecost. The rector of the cathedral, Bishop Ribadeau-Dumas, only emphasized at a press conference on June 25 that it was “a State project.”

This is not the first controversy surrounding the decoration of Notre-Dame, as the exhibition currently being presented at the Cité du Vitrail in Troyes aptly reminds us: “Notre-Dame de Paris la Carrière des vitraux (1935-1965)”. On view until January 5, 2025.