When the fire spread through the roof of Notre Dame de Paris on April 15, 2019, we all looked on in horror. However as bad as it looked, it could have been far worse, and in the days following hopeful little signs appeared.
Statues, paintings, and the all important relics were saved as well as another treasure that few knew even existed. Rolled up and pushed away in a large box under some benches was a carpet so grand that it lay in the choir to baptize a prince. Over 80 feet long and rolled away it was drowned in two tons of water. When Herve Lemoine, director of the Mobilier National had a chance to see the carpet he was worried it would be damaged beyond repair.
Unrolled, dried, frozen, and deprived of oxygen to kill any insects they were pleased to see the carpet was in very good shape except for a few dark spots that can be seen in the photos. Named the Drap d'Or (cloth of gold), the carpet dates back to 1825 when King Charles X had it commissioned to be placed in the church when he was in attendance for mass. Created from the drawing by Jacques Louis de la Hamayde de Saint-Ange the carpet went through a few changes before it was ever finished.
The Manufacture Royale de la Savonnerie was tasked with the job of weaving the immense carpet. On September 15, 1825, at a former soap factory near the Trocadero that was large enough to hold the loom, the weaving began.
Saint-Ange design included a large white cross with the French coat of arms in the center and the monogram of Charles X. Fleur-de-Lis and the necklace of the order of St Michel and the Holy Spirit encircled the coat of arms. Golden vines with grapes and colorful leaves wind around the cornucopias with a neo-classical reliquary on the lower portion. Around a large candlestick are a miter and other attributes of the church that are around the symbols of the four evangelists. At the top an eagle of St John, the angel of St Matthews, the Lion of St Marc, and the Ox of St Luke.
The Three Glorious Days that marked the Revolution that ousted Charles X put a halt to the project and the design of the carpet. Under Louis-Phillippe the Bourbon symbols were removed and the fleur-de-lis and necklace as well as any markings of the former king. It was finally completed in 1833 and was placed in the Galerie d’Apollon of the Louvre for all to see it. On May 2, 1841, it would be used for the first event in Notre Dame, the baptism of the grandson of Louis-Philippe, Philippe d’Orleans.
Under Napoleon III, it was used for the baptism of his son, Price Louis Napoleon on June 14, 1856. Following the end of the 2nd empire, the carpet was used once more for a visit of Tsar Nicolas II until it was rolled away for over 80 years. A papal visitation by John Paul II was a great reason to use the colorful carpet once more on May 30, 1980. Mostly forgotten and rolled away it would return in 2017 for a 10-day exhibit open to the public just after Christmas on January 4th.
Following the fire and the months of treatment to rid it of insects, it was a real treat to see it in person at the 2019 Journée du Patrimoine in the Mobilier National. The colors are stunning and vibrant and all the emotions and tears came to the surface as soon as I saw it.
On July 7, 2022 the restoration of the carpet began by a highly skilled group of masters trained in historic repair began. In a large room with looms with massive windows so the natural light streams in they work for endless hours on each detail of the treasured carpet. The carpet itself weighs over a thousand pounds and a dozen men are needed to lift and shift it just a few more inches. Luckily the carpet was in amazing shape after the fire, although the lower portion at one point was glued to the canvas with fish skin adhesive in the 19th century and has hardened making it impossible to get a needle through.
They will replace the edging and any dark spots and next year it will return to Notre Dame for us all to see once more.
We will have to see if they will return it on display this September during the Journée du Patrimoine weekend but if you are in Paris plan a trip to the Mobilier National, just in case.
