To commemorate the reopening of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris on December 7, 2024, this post features illustrations from Louis Gonse's L'Art Gothique, part of the Harry F. Guggenheim Collection. Louis Gonse (1846-1921), an art historian and editor-in-chief of the Gazette des Beaux Arts, became a member of the Commission on Historical Monuments in 1891, later serving as that organization's Vice President. L'Art Gothique, published in Paris in 1890, covers French architecture, painting, sculpture, and decoration of the medieval period. In addition to photogravures and chromotypographs, the book contains two hundred signed drawings by artist Edouard Louis Boudier (1845-1903). Unless noted as a photogravure, the illustrations in this post are Boudier's work.
The apse of Notre Dame de Paris in a photogravure; construction began with the apse in the twelfth century.
Construction of Notre Dame de Paris began in 1163 when Pope Alexander III, in the presence of Bishop Maurice de Sully, King Louis VII and his queen Adela of Champagne, laid the first stone. The high altar was consecrated in 1189, and the cathedral was largely completed by 1354. By the nineteenth century, the structure had badly deteriorated, suffering damage during the French Revolution and the Revolution of 1830. In the 1840s, restoration began under the supervision of architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879), who returned the cathedral to its medieval glory. Gonse writes that Viollet-le-Duc's restoration "is an accomplished model of science, intelligence, and taste."
Photogravure of the cathedral's west façade. The three portals, from left to right, are the Portal of the Virgin, the Portal of the Last Judgement, and the Portal of St. Anne.
The Portal of the Virgin.
The Portal of the Last Judgement, restored by Viollet-le-Duc.
The Portal of St. Anne. The figure on the central trumeau (the pillar dividing the doorway) is Saint Marcel (ca. 360-436), the ninth bishop of Paris and one of the three patron saints of the city. The original statue was mutilated during the French Revolution.
In discussing Notre Dame's west façade, Gonse notes that it "is the most famous part of the Paris cathedral; it deserves its universal fame. We can proclaim it without hesitation the queen of Gothic façades. There is none more monumental or majestic; there is none that presents such complete harmony." Begun in 1200, the façade and towers were completed by 1250. Although spires were considered for the towers, they were never built. On the lack of spires, Gonse muses, "Should we see this as a result of an unforeseen cause--lack of resources or something else--stronger than the will of the builder, or should we, on the contrary, think that, having reached this point, the work was judged perfect and one was afraid to change anything? I would willingly incline towards the latter hypothesis; in effect it seems that the addition of stone spires could only have reduced the strong character of this façade. Everything seems providential in the history of the construction of Notre Dame....and if the spires had been executed, it is likely that the whole would have lost a part of its grandeur."
The balustrade of the upper gallery of the west façade, featuring chimeras, fantastic animals, at the angles.
A chimera from the upper gallery.
Gonse notes that the chimeras, fantastic animals, on the angles of the balustrade of the façade, were the personal creation of Viollet-le-Duc, and replaced the old figures of which all that remained were the fasteners and a few fragments. The cathedral also has numerous gargoyles, the decorative ends of gutters, that direct water away from the roof. Many of these are located on the flying buttresses.
Photogravure of the nave from the angle of the south transept.
Describing the interior of the cathedral, Gonse remarks that the "nave, like the façade, is a masterpiece." Gonse explains that the photogravure of the nave shows one of the bays that Viollet-le-Duc restored to its original state, before the mullioned oculi were destroyed around 1235 for the enlargement of the high windows.
Fourteenth-century sculpture of the Virgin Mary and Christ child.
Viollet-le-Duc moved the fourteenth-century statue of the Virgin and Child to the southeast pillar of the transept from the trumeau of the Virgin's portal. It originally had been located in the Chapel of Saint-Aignan and had been moved in 1818 to the portal to replace the thirteenth-century statue destroyed in 1793.
South façade, begun by Jean de Chelles before his death in 1258.
The north and south façades were built in the mid-1200s. Jean de Chelles was the master mason who oversaw construction of the north transept and the design and start of construction of the south transept. The thirteenth-century rose window of the south façade was restored by Viollet-le-Duc. In describing these façades, Gonse writes, "they...consist of an immense window measuring almost two hundred and fifty square meters in area, a portal, two uprights crowned by open pinnacles and a richly decorated pediment; the layout is clear and simple, and every detail is of inestimable quality." In concluding his discussion of the architecture of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, Gonse remarks, "she is the very image of the homeland and one of the most sublime expressions of its genius."
L'Art Gothique is an excellent resource for those interested in the architecture, sculpture, and decorative arts of France from the twelfth to the fifteenth century.
Sources:
Gonse, Louis. L'Art Gothique. Paris: Ancienne Maison Quantin, Librairies-Imprimeries Réunies [1890] N6311.G7 1890
Notre-Dame de Paris - official website
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