The transepts of Notre Dame hold a few painted masterpieces including four of the May paintings. On the Northwest wall two episodes in the life of Saint Andrew.
At the top, the Martyrdom of Saint Andrew by Charles Le Brun. The 1647 Les May was painted when he was just 28 and a year before he created the Royal Academy with Anne of Austria, mother of Louis XIV. In 1664, Le Brun became the painter to the king and the mastermind behind the decor of the Chateau de Versailles.
Saint André, brother of Saint Pierre and disciple of Jesus, was known for being crucified on an X-shaped cross. Instead of placing him on the cross, Le Brun depicts the moments before as they have just ripped off his clothes and prepared him to be tortured. André’s arms and legs are apart, recreating the cross as he looks up at the angel gazing at him with the palms of heaven.
Just below is the moment before the death of Saint Andrew painted by Gabriel Blanchard le Neveu. The 1670 Les Mays, Saint André Quivering with Joy at the Sight of his Torturer.
Blanchard is a defender of color and a follower of Rubens. He depicts the saint in the moments before his torture. Positioning his body in the form of a cross as he looks up to the man who will torture him. It is the largest of all the Mays created and perfect for the north transept.
In the center of each of the transepts are the wood door cases created again under Viollet-le-Duc. The angels with musical instruments at the top suffered damage when the fire and transept vaults fell and had to be recreated.
On the North wall, notice how the light casts a shadow in the corner of the painting of the Adoration of the Shepherds by Jeröme I Francken. Painted in 1585 for the Eglise des Cordeliers and commissioned by Jacques-Auguste de Thou in memory of his father Christophe seen in red on the left. Many of the faces of the Thou family are featured as the adoring shepherds.
On Easter Sunday 1982, an aerosol can exploded in the south transept and damaged chair and the lower corner of the painting, thankfully restored.
Still waiting for the addition of the 14th Les Mays painting to arrive that will hang above. The 1693 Les Mays by Joseph Parcel depicts the Preaching of Saint John the Baptist. Once in Notre Dame from its creation to 1797 when removed during the Revolution to Versailles until its return by Napoleon in 1802. Since 1938 it has been in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Arras until its eventual return to Notre Dame sometime this year after restoration.
The Liturgical platform represents the Last Supper
Baudin Chateauneuf, near Orleans, created the new platform after the original was destroyed the night of the fire. The 82 feet by 26 feet plateau weighs 110 tons and is made of a steel frame where 126 slabs create the steps and the 156 slabs of the top platform. Modern tech was added, including a sound system, electricity, and ventilation.
Moleanos limestone and Hainault blue stone from Portugal and Belgium were carved in Suresnes. The entire piece was built before being taken apart and brought to Notre Dame, where it took two weeks to rebuild. It was finished by the end of summer 2024.
Cathedral and seats Guillaume Bardet, sculpteur et designer •
Barthélémy Art, fondeur • 2024
The archbishop chose a French designer from 69 artists who had submitted their designs for the new liturgical furniture. Made of bronze, the new altar and furniture represent the cathedral’s past, present, and future.
The altar is located below the center of the transept and is topped with the keystone of Our Lady, which was destroyed when the spire punched through the vaults. In many ways, the church’s heart saw the worst damage the day after the fire. Who could forget the photo that emerged with the golden cross in the choir over the burnt remains on April 16? Piles of burned timber and stones that had made up the vaults since the Middle Ages had to be carefully removed and cataloged.
Bardet was chosen from 70 candidates and the only one that presented his idea in bronze. After a visit to the cathedral in 2023 and the sight of how light the stone was he knew he couldn’t compete with the color and a stone altar would disappear. Beside the altar is the ambon, the T like stand that is placed in a stone base that represents an open book, the support of the Divine word.
Another item is placed as you enter the cathedral in a direct line to the altar, the baptistery. The bronze base is topped with a polished mirrored bronze to represent the river that baptised Christ. It’s only used once a year on Easter.
The new liturgical plateau on which the altar is placed also had to be recreated. The Baudin workshop in Chateauneuf-sur-Loire constructed the Moleanos limestone and Hainault blue stone in stages. The metal frame also had to incorporate the state of sound and technology in the 2152 square feet space. Weighing over 110 tons, it was constructed off-site and built before it was dismantled and installed in Notre Dame, which took two weeks to complete.
Madonna and Child, known as "Notre Dame de Paris"
Mid-14th century
This statue comes from a chapel Saint Aignan (eN-nee-youn)l in the former canons' cloister on the Ile de la Cité. In 1818, it was placed on the façade, on the Portal of the Virgin. It was placed in front of this pillar in 1855 and has since been prayed at "Notre Dame de Paris".
Mary is key to the Christian mystery of the Incarnation. The eternal Son of the Almighty Father becomes man: He was born of a woman. What is offered to the faith of every believer is a personal experience of Mary, to whom Jesus, on Golgotha, entrusts all disciples of the Church:
"Behold your Mother, behold your Son." Mary is the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of God, and the Mother of the Church
South Transept decoration
Southwest wall
Plaque commémorative de la messe de fondation dite « de la Libération de Paris (25 août 1944)»
Plaque commemorating the founding mass of the Liberation of Paris (August 25, 1944)"
On the 25th the bells of Notre Dame including Emmanuel rang out. As the first notes were struck the churches of Paris joined in. Although the mass was actually the next day, August 26 in front of General Charles de Gaulle and General Leclerc. The Magnificat mass, reserved for special occasions like the reopening of the cathedral in December 2024 was performed while gun fire from revolting Germans continued just outside the doors and also high above the nave.
Germans had entered the cathedral and were firing onto the crowd and several people were shot and injured. Bullets ricochet off the transept vaults leaving marks that were visible until the night of the fire. The priests and choir never stopped, they continued on with the mass as if nothing was happening.
Statue de sainte Jeanne d'Arc vierge, co-patronne de la France (V. 1412-1431)
Charles Desvergnes, sculpteur • vers 1920
In 1431, Jeanne d'Arc’s mother, Isabelle Romée, came to Notre Dame de Paris and asked that her daughter’s memory be given the weight it deserved. He sent a letter to Pope Callistus III, who in turn asked Jean Jouvenel des Ursins (chapel Saint Guillaume), the Guillaume Chartier, bishop of Paris, and Richard de Longueil, bishop of Coutances, to review her story.
On July 7, 1456, a statement was released agreeing that the “sentences that concluded it are tainted by fraud, slander, malice and injustice. We declare that Joan is pure of these sentences and as far as we are concerned we purify her entirely”.
Jeanné d’Arc was canonized in 1920, and the same year Charles Jean Cléophas Desvergnes was asked to create a statue of the Patronne saint of France. Inaugurated May 7, 1921
Southeast wall paintings
Top: Le Triomphe de Job ou Job rétabli dans sa prospérité
Guido Reni 1636. The Triumph of Job or Job returning to Prosperity
Seized by Napoleon in the first Italian campaign from the church of Santa Maria dei Mendicanti in Bologna, on the altar of the chapel of the silk workers guild. Brought in 1797 and exhibited in the Louvre in 1798. Moved to Notre Dame for the Te Deum under Napoleon on April 28, 1802, and given to the cathedral on February 25, 1811
The scene is from the last episode of the Old Testament book of Job. He sits in a throne on the right, where he receives offerings and gifts from his family and friends to restore his wealth, and is awarded for his lasting faith during the many trials.
The painting has been copied in drawings by many artists, including Fragonard in 1761.
The stretcher the painting is on is very different from any others in the cathedral. The rounded top and sides are in a special self-tensioning chassis that can be easily adjusted. The springs had become very dirty and corroded over time and were taken apart and cleaned, and were a great find for the restorers.
Bottom:
The Stoning of Saint Etienne by Charles Le Brun Les Mays 1651
The second of Le Brun’s paintings is held in Notre Dame. Saint Etienne was a key figure in the churches of Paris and the namesake of the first church on the Ile de la Cité, where Notre Dame now stands.
Saint Etienne was condemned to death by stoning in Jerusalem, as seen on the left side of the painting. The first Christian martyr is on the ground while his executioner pulls his arm back to strike him, and bystanders look on. Etienne looks up to the angels, Jesus, and his father. The top 10 inches of the painting were created later and sewn to the canvas to match the approved dimensions.
