the crown of thorns today joins its sumptuous new reliquary shrine
Should we frost the cross that appears, molded in hollow, inside each glass block or let it shine, through transparency? At the Ateliers Saint-Jacques & Fonderie de Coubertin, in Yvelines, opinions are pouring in and the discussion is lively around Sylvain Dubuisson. The artist imagined the reliquary shrine intended to house and display the precious relic of the crown of thorns. Its collaborators try to observe the reflections of the samples of paving stones, in different lighting, different axes, and to imagine the halo of glass which will soon shine in the darkness of the axial chapel of the cathedral… “It is as if this project was intended for me, says the creator. I have been thinking about this shrine since in 2004, Mgr Lustiger was already thinking of entrusting me with its creation. » Finally, Bishop Ulrich took up the idea again in 2023 and called on him after the firefighters during the fire destroyed the reliquary chest, to save the relic.
While Pascal Rémy, director of metalwork and artistic ironwork, calls master glassmaker Olivier Juteau to find out if it is possible to change his mind about finishing the paving stones, the site meeting continues. The manager presents the other elements being manufactured: the metal structure, the marble altar, the elements of the cedar openwork panel, the brass mesh, the bronze thorns which will take place in the golden cells… “The technology allows to draw up plans, on a computer, with precision, integrating data on resistance and interactions between materials,” he explains. So everything is manufactured simultaneously in six different workshops before final assembly in the cathedral, on the eve of the opening.
A Klein blue box
Sylvain Dubuisson insists on the placement of the shrine: “It is important that the relic is displayed just above the eye, that believers can immerse themselves in it, and that their devotion is encouraged. » Hence the importance given to the matte blue color of the sphere, in the center of the halo, which will absorb the light and serve as a setting. Worshipers will be able to walk around the whole thing, kneel or sit and even touch the back of the sphere. Below, a secure vault will house the crown of thorns when it is not presented in worship.
“For a very simple result, I wanted to mix precious materials: cedar, the wood traditionally described as that of the Cross; gold, reminiscent of the icono stases of oriental churches” explains Sylvain Dubuisson. It was the Emperor of Byzantium in fact who sold the relic to Saint Louis in 1238. He then had the Sainte-Chapelle, in Paris, almost opposite Notre-Dame, built to house it, a church entirely designed as a giant shrine where the Crown of Christ was kept until the Revolution. After such an architectural feat, the challenge was therefore ambitious to take on. “How can we magnify an object as strikingly modest as a crown of thorns? asks the designer. This is a paradox of the Catholic faith. To resolve it, I follow the lineage of Abbot Suger (1080-1151), one of the promoters of Gothic art. He believed that there is a relationship between the beauty of materials and spiritual elevation. This is also my philosophy. »
