‘Extraordinary’: ancient tombs and statues unearthed
beneath Notre Dame Cathedral
Archaeological dig also finds body-shaped lead
sarcophagus buried at the heart of the fire-ravaged monument
Kim
Willsher in Paris
Thu 14 Apr
2022 18.41 BST
An
archaeological dig under Notre Dame Cathedral has uncovered an extraordinary
treasure of statues, sculptures, tombs and pieces of an original rood screen
dating back to the 13th century.
The find
included several ancient tombs from the middle ages and a body-shaped lead
sarcophagus buried at the heart of the fire-ravaged monument under the floor of
the transept crossing.
French
experts have described the discovery as “extraordinary and emotional”.
“We
uncovered all these riches just 10-15cm under the floor slabs. It was
completely unexpected. There were exceptional pieces documenting the history of
the monument,” said Christophe Besnier, who headed the scientific team for the
dig.
“It was an
emotional moment. Suddenly we had several hundred pieces from small fragments
to large blocks including sculpted hands, feet, faces, architectural
decorations and plants. Some of the pieces were still coloured.”
The
discovery was revealed by France’s national archaeological institute, Inrap, on
Thursday. A team from the institute was called in to carry out a “preventive
dig” under a section of the cathedral floor between February and April before a
100ft-high 600-tonne scaffold was built to reconstruct the monument’s spire.
Until now,
only a few pieces of the original Notre Dame rood screen, an ornate partition
between the chancel and nave that separated the clergy and choir from the
congregation, have remained. Some of these are in the cathedral store rooms,
while others are on show in the Louvre. In Catholic churches, most were removed
during the Counter-Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries. The rest of the
Notre Dame rood appears to have been carefully interred under the cathedral
floor during the building’s restoration by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc – who added
the spire – in the mid-19th century.
One of the
most extraordinary pieces was an intact sculpture of the head of a man,
believed to be a representation of Jesus, carved from stone. Another block from
the rood screen, believed to date from the 13th century, shows a Gothic-style
monument.
The Inrap
team was given a strict timeframe and only a specific area in which to carry
out the excavation. After fire swept through the 850-year-old cathedral, one of
Paris’s most symbolic and visited monuments, in April 2019, almost destroying
the entire edifice, President Emmanuel Macron pledged to have it rebuilt and
open for mass in five years.
Last
September, Gen Jean-Louis Georgelin, appointed to oversee the restoration, said
the safety of the cathedral structure had been established, meaning the
restoration and reconstruction of the sections destroyed by fire could begin.
He said the cathedral would be open for services and public visits as promised
in 2024.
Besnier
said they had identified several other slabs of the rood screen under the
floor, but these were outside the specified limit of the dig. “We know they are
there and won’t be damaged. Hopefully, we will be able to uncover them at a
later date,” he said.
The
excavation also unveiled a network of masonry heating pipes installed under the
floor in the 19th century.
Experts
believe the lead sarcophagus may contain the body of a high church official
possibly dating back to the 14th century. A camera introduced into the coffin
had revealed plant remains under the head of the deceased alongside hair and
fragments of cloth, but there was no plate identifying the occupant.
Dominique
Garcia, president of Inrap, said further examinations including DNA tests would
be carried out, but added: “A sarcophagus containing a human body is not an
archaeological object. These are human remains, and while examining the
sarcophagus and analysing the body and other objects inside, we must do so with
respect.”
He said no decision had been made as to where the body would be reburied once the tests had been completed. “It’s too early to say. It’s possible that it will be reburied somewhere in the cathe
Stabilized Notre-Dame Cathedral Is on Track for
2024 Reopening, Officials Say
The restoration effort is seeking to meet President
Emmanuel Macron’s ambitious plan to reopen the cathedral five years after it
was ravaged by a fire — just in time for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
By Alyssa
Lukpat
Published
Sept. 18, 2021
Updated
Oct. 8, 2021
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/18/world/europe/notre-dame-cathedral-restoration.html
Two and a
half years after a fire ravaged the centuries-old Cathedral of Notre-Dame in
the heart of Paris, the building has been secured enough to start the
rebuilding process, which is expected to be completed in 2024, according to the
French authorities.
Stabilizing
the 850-year-old cathedral was a daunting task, as the French authorities had
to dismantle scaffolding and clear the debris that lay heaped on the floor,
among other tasks, Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, a former army chief of staff whom
President Emmanuel Macron placed in charge of the restoration, said on
Saturday.
“We’re
officially saying that the cathedral is now saved, that it’s solid on its
pillars, that its walls are solid,” General Georgelin, who leads the
government’s Notre-Dame restoration task force, told the French broadcaster
BFM-TV.
The task
force, called Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, or Rebuild Notre-Dame, said in a
statement on Facebook on Saturday that the cathedral was on track to reopen in
2024, meeting Mr. Macron’s ambitious five-year deadline to open the Gothic
landmark the same year that Paris was set to host the Summer Olympics.
The
rebuilding work is expected to begin in the next few months, the statement
said.
Friends of
Notre-Dame de Paris, an organization helping to restore the cathedral, is
seeking donations to restore dozens of the cathedral’s gargoyles, statues and
paintings.
The world
watched the events of April 15, 2019, as it would a slow-motion horror film, as
the flames consumed the cathedral attic before tearing through the roof and up
the iconic spire, which toppled down into the vaults below. The cathedral, an
irreplaceable symbol of French heritage, came dangerously close to collapsing,
a New York Times investigation found.
Donations
for the restoration poured in from around the world, including from some of
France’s wealthiest families. In the days after the fire, individuals,
companies and institutions had donated or pledged 845 million euros, about $950
million, to rebuild the damaged cathedral, a jewel of Gothic architecture.
The
restoration set off a flurry of arguments over the cathedral’s new design. Last
year, Mr. Macron dropped his unpopular idea of building a modern spire atop the
cathedral.
Investigators
haven’t yet said what caused the fire, but they have focused on two theories: a
short-circuit near the spire, and negligence by workers carrying out
renovations, a theory fueled by the discovery of cigarette butts on the
scaffolding.
Notre-Dame’s
safety planners have been criticized for misjudging how quickly a flame could
ignite and spread through the cathedral.
The fallout
from the fire wasn’t limited to the cathedral itself. Another Times
investigation found that the billowing smoke emanating from the cathedral
carried its own hidden danger: enormous quantities of lead that scattered
throughout the streets and parks of Paris, according to government reports.
The
cathedral, where 13 million visitors used to crowd every year, is still closed
to the public
.webp)
.jpeg)
No comments:
Post a Comment