Before our very eyes, the recreated spire of Notre Dame is being revealed once again. After more than two years of work, the craftsmen and women have finished the fleche that was destroyed on April 15, 2019.
The original spire, created in 1250, suffered damage numerous times from high winds and lightning and was removed for safety in 1792. The design of the original was close to what we see today, and it was also covered in lead that was melted down to make bullets during the Revolution.
Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus were chosen to restore the beloved cathedral after hundreds of years of neglect, and a new spire was a top priority. A few notes and drawings remained detailing the 13th-century spire that led Viollet-le-Duc in the direction of the design. Made from fresh-cut green oak and covered with lead sheets, detailed with hooks and statuary.
Lassus sadly passed away on July 15, 1847, and work on the spire commenced the following day. Construction of the base and the entire spire took twelve years and was completed and inaugurated on August 15, 1859, the date of the Assumption of Mary.
The Cité de l’Architecture museum features models, original drawings, and photographs of the 19th-century spire, including a black and white photo of the spire covered in scaffolding.
This morning, as I looked up at the workers removing the scaffolding piece by piece, I thought about that photo and what a change it is when we look at the cathedral today. One hundred and sixty-five years separate us, but what is held safely inside, just waiting for its full reveal, is exactly the same.
After the fire, it was voted that the spire and roof must be recreated in the same way, using the same methods. I think the workers might be a little happier with the use of metal scaffolding and an elevator, but they would still take the same pride in the finished result.
In an unbelievable stroke of luck, just four days before the fire, the statues of the roof were removed one by one. On April 11, 2019, the twelve apostles flew over the streets to head south for a bit of freshening up. The plan was to return them two by two to Notre Dame to be placed on display before their return to their original location on the roof.
In 1795, my hero, Alexandre Le Noir, jumped into action to save the monuments of France that were on the path of destruction by the Revolution. The tombs of the kings and queens in the Basilique Saint-Denis would have been lost if not for Alexandre. The rescued monuments made their way to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and became the first Museum of French Monuments. It lasted until 1815 when the contents were returned to their rightful homes. Emmanuel Viollet-Le-Duc, an architect who played a major part in the restoration of Notre Dame, had a dream to recreate the museum, and in 1879, it was revived and opened at the Trocadero.
Filled with the casts of French churches and monuments, it was the perfect home for the statues of Notre Dame until they could return to their peak over the Seine this past summer.
In 1842, Viollet-le-Duc and Baptiste Lassus were selected to rehabilitate the grand lady. His early plan included the addition of three spires, two on the tower and one on the roof.. The former spire had been removed in 1792 for safety issues, and an entire generation never knew the church with a spire. Coming off the renovation of Sainte Chapelle, Viollet-le-Duc wanted to add statues to the roof and tapped Adolphe Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume, with whom he had worked on Sainte Chapelle.
Work began on the Apostles in 1848, and they were a bit more than meets the eye. The inner structure was created with iron and then covered with copper sheets, making for a much lighter statue that could stand far above the streets. In 2019, in the Périgeux offices of SOCRA, the statues arrived and the work began. Many of the internal structures had to be partially replaced. Micro-sandblasting with apricot powder removed the outer layer of the patina. A dark bronze colored paint was added and coated with wax, and after a month of work, the statue was complete.
There are 16 total statues, twelve Apostles and four Evangelists, and they can once again be found on the roof of Notre Dame, keeping watch over the cathedral.