The treasure of Notre-Dame Cathedral, From Its Origins to Viollet-le-Duc

In the aftermath of the terrible fire that struck Notre-Dame de Paris on April 15, 2019, the Louvre museum opened its doors wide to the masterpieces of the cathedral to shelter them. This is how a priceless part of the treasure, famous for the remarkable relics it houses, in particular that of the Crown of Thorns, found refuge within the museum.

Survivors of an eventful history, chalices, ciboria, stoles, ancient books and precious relics are thus exceptionally reunited, before returning to their restored setting, the admirable sacristy erected in the mid-19th century at the foot of the cathedral by Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc.

This ensemble forms the most recent chapter of a thousand-year-old history.that the work retraces through inventories, historical accounts, paintings, illuminated manuscripts and engravings, weaving between several eras of the history of art and architecture a unique and fascinating thread.

Official catalogue of the exhibition « The treasury of Notre-Dame Cathedral. From Its Origins to Viollet-le-Duc » at the musée du Louvre from 18 October 2023 to 29 January 2024

French

336 pages

Coédition Hazan / Louvre éditions