The windows will be completed in September and then "fitted in October-November so that everything is ready for an unveiling in December", Philippe Jost, chairman of the public body Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, told French news agencyAFP during a visit to the Simon-Marq workshop in Reims, where they are currently being made.
Their production is suffering "no delay whatsoever", stressed French culture minister Catherine Pégard, adding that the installation of these windows would be "yet another very great moment" for the cathedral, which reopened in December 2024, five years after the fire that had ravaged it in 2019. France's Minister of Culture Catherine Pégard with artist Claire Tabouret; Archbishop of Paris Msgr. Laurent Ulrich; Philippe Jost, President of the Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris; Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger and Philippe Varin, President and Vice-President of the Atelier Simon-Marq, in Reims, on 23 July 2023.
The six windows each depict a verse from the Bible devoted to Pentecost, the "descent of the Holy Spirit", a theme chosen by the Archdiocese of Paris.
These new windows, whose production is funded by the French state, are due to replace six of the seven stained-glass windows in the south aisle of the nave of the Paris cathedral, which were made in 1864 as part of the restoration of Notre-Dame led by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Employees work at the Simon-Marq workshops, a centuries-old family business of master glassmakers, in Reims, northeastern France, on 23 July, 2026.
Artists Claire Tabouret was selected by a special committee to create contemporary windows for Notre-Dame, in collaboration with the Reims-based glassmaking studio Simon-Marq.
"I immediately wanted to get to work. It's true that this is a project that instills great humility, because I'm part of an extremely long timeframe. There was a lot to do," she told RFI earlier this year.
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The six removed windows, currently undergoing asbestos removal at the foot of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, will then be "restored and put on public display – four of them at the Château de Pierrefonds, a medieval castle north of Paris rebuilt by Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century, and two others at the Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine" in Paris, the public body said in a statement.
The planned replacement of the Viollet-le-Duc windows, which were not damaged by the fire, has sparked a fierce row, fuelled by heritage campaigners who question its relevance and cost. It is contested by some heritage campaigners.
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"When people see these six windows where they're meant to be, I think that will win over all the naysayers," the culture minister said.
This project "truly fits into the history of the cathedral", which, "throughout the centuries and for more than 860 years, has always seen contributions from different eras", Jost, the head of Rebâtir Notre-Dame de Paris, recalled.
With this project, "we are in service to the cathedral", Tabouret said for her part at the end of the workshop visit.
(with AFP)
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