As we continue our walk through the history of each of the chapels of Notre Dame we have reached two of the most important and also the most beautiful. Normally the central back chapel is dedicated to the Virgin in most cathedrals but in Notre Dame the most important relic of Christianity resides here.
The Chapel Notre Dame de Sept-Deuleurs is named for the one thousand year old organization that protects the Crown of Thorns and the relics of the Passion. In the center is the new gleaming reliquary created for the Renaissance of Notre Dame.
In 2005, Cardinal Lustiger asked artist and architect Sylvain Dubuisson to create a new reliquary for the Crown of Thorns. The project died when the Cardinal did, and Dubuisson shelved his idea. In 2023, Bishop Ulrich called out of the blue and asked the artist to pick up where he left off.
Dubuisson researched the history of the Crown, from its origin to the reliquary church of Sainte Chapelle, created for it and channeled Abbot Suger, the father of Gothic churches.
The wall is made of cedar to emulate the True Cross; cut into the wall are three hundred sixty openings, each holding a gilded bronze thorn. The gilded gold is reminiscent of the Byzantine churches where the Crown of Thorns was kept in the 5th century.
The openings are more significant at the top than at the bottom, allowing natural light to stream in. In the center are 396 glass cabochons, each etched with a cross and backed with 24-karat gold. When on view, they surround the Crown of Thorns, which hangs over the Klein blue center, which frames and glows in the light.
Standing just over 11 feet tall, the center was placed above eye level to be viewed from every angle. The three-ton sculpture sits on a Carrera marble base that holds a safe where the Crown lays when not displayed and is topped with one hundred LED “candles.”
Dubuisson worked with the Atelier Saint Jacques, Fonderie de Coubertin, Glassmaker Olivier Juteau, Light Sculptor Patrick Rimoux, and the Atelier de Rocou for the gilding. The entire team worked simultaneously, and the project took over 4700 hours to complete.
The Crown of Thorns is venerated each Friday during lent from 3 pm to 5 pm and on Good Friday from 10 am to 5 pm.
The two walls of the chapel are decorated with frescos much different than any other in the cathedral. On the left wall is the mural of the Life of the Virgin by Auguste Perrodin painted in 1870 after the restoration of Viollet-le-Duc. To read the story start at the bottom left with Jesus bearing the cross, Christ on the calvary in the center and on the right the Descent of the Cross. In the center row the Death of the Virgin on the left and Communion of the Virgin on the right and at the top the Coronation of the Virgin.
On the south wall; the oldest fresco of the cathedral dates to the 14th century. The mural reflects the Virgin welcoming the soul of Simon Matifas de Bucy, bishop of Paris from 1290 to his death in 1304. Bucy succeeded the Bishop Maurice de Sully whose ambition and money built Notre Dame de Paris.
The Virgin is surrounded by Bishop Bucy and on the right Saint Nicaise de Reims the martyred saint that also lost his head and carried it to his tomb, much like our patron saint Denys. Thankfully the fresco was saved by Viollet-le-Duc under the 19th century restoration. The cénotaph of Bucy was once part of the mural and later moved to just below the cross and pieta.
The stained glass windows capture the first sun of the day and are each attributed to a different artist and were each created using the 14th century techniques in stained glass design. The first window on the left by Nicolas Coffetier was finished in 1884 and tells the story of Sybylis and the Prophets announcing the coming of the new reign.
The center window beautifully lays out the Life of the Virgin by Antoine Lusson in 1855 when he was just 15 years old! On the right the Pilgrimages to Notre Dame by Alfred Gérente after the original design by Louis Steinheil in 1855.
On either side of the chapel are two ceénotaphs of the Gondi family. On the left Albert de Gondi, maréchal de France and close to the family of Henri II. Born in Florence on November 4, 1522, his mother was close to Catherine de Medici and moved with her to France upon her marriage to Henri II in 1533. Becoming a close advisor he negotiated the marriage of their son Charles IX to Elisabeth d’Autriche in 1570. Upon his death on April 21, 1602 he was given a lavish ceremonial funeral and buried in the cathedral.
Albert, on his knees in prayer, looks towards his younger brother Bishop Pierre Cardinal de Gondi. Born in 1533 and served as bishop of Longres in 1565 before being named the bishop of Paris in 1598. Like his brother he was close with the royal family including Henri III and Henri IV and is featured as one of the cardinals in the Rueben’s paintings of the Coronation of Marie de Medici in the Louvre. Pierre stepped aside in favor of his nephew Henri taking the role as bishop in 1598. The Gondi family held a tight grip on the title including three more named bishop of Paris. Six are buried in Notre Dame de Paris.
The next chapel is dedicated to Saint Georges de Lydda. A martyr saint that lived in the 3rd century. Born around 275 in the Roman Empire his story lives on from the Golden Legend by Jacques de Voragine, written in 1265.
Georges, traveling on his white steed to the city of Siléne that had been terrorized by a dragon that was devouring every animal and two teenage girls a day. The day Georges arrived the king’s daughter had been chosen in a random draw. Georges sprang into action and confronted the dragon and killed him just in time to save the princess. In appreciation the town converted to Christianity but Georges later met a horrible fate when he was arrested, tortured, his skin scalded and peeled but survived. A few days later on April 23, 303 he was beheaded. There are sure a lot of beheadings in the history of the saints.
The statue on the left side of Saint Georges was created by Joseph Lescorné in 1855. Georges is pulling his sword from behind his back just before he kills the dragon. On the right wall you can see his story painted in the fresco by Louis Steinheil in 1862.
The stained glass windows are three of the best in the entire cathedral. Again created in the style of the 14 the century with its individual stories and lots of color. When looking at windows like this, the rule is to start in the bottom left corner then read the story across to the right then up and then towards the left, up and to the right, ending at the very top window, following the story in an S shape.
The windows behind Saint Georges tells the story of Louis IX, better known as Saint Louis, including when he purchased the Crown of Thorns. The center window for Saint Etienne who is closely tied to Notre Dame and the name of the first chapel that once stood on the Ile de la Cité in this very place. A martyr saint, he was killed by being stoned and can be found in the glass.
The last window is the story of Saint Eustache who lived in the 2nd century. A Roman general he was hunting in the forest and came across a stag with a cross stuck between his antlers. Christ spoke to him and called him to the church and was baptized with the wife and sons. The beautiful Saint Eustache in Les Halles has many reminders of the stag and cross just as the lower right window also has. All three windows were done under Eugène Oudinot after the works of Louis Steinhel in 1862.
Unlike the great restorations of Notre Dame in the 18th and 19th century the Renaissance after the fire was not to add structural changes but to return it to the vision of Viollet-le-Duc. From the viewpoint of Philippe Villeneuve and the two thousands workers that was the plan although the Bishop and the Church had other ideas for the inside.
Many of the chairs of the nave and the liturgical furniture of the altar was destroyed the night of the fire and needed to be replaced. Although they made a few other changes by pulling many of the decorative features out of the chapels. The candlesticks, crucifixes and reliquaries are gone and the chapels of the nave are very sterile, however there is a few additions in this chapel I am ok with.
At the edge of the chapel are three reminders of that horrible night 6 years ago this week. Just below the statue of Saint Georges in a glass case is a crucifix that was designed by Viollet-le-Duc that was on the choir altar the night of the fire. Molten lead dripped from the roof onto the crucifix, a stark reminder of that night. It sits alongside a shiny helmet of the French Pompiers, the true heroes of that night. Behind is a replication of the plan the fire commander drew up to deal with the fire.
The center holds one of the most important of that night the beloved rooster that looked over the cathedral for more than 160 years and crashed into the cathedral on April 15, 2019.
The rooster is a symbol of France dating back to the 5th century BC. A symbol of protection, vigilance, and hope, it was added to the churches and often functioned as a weather vane, as is the case at Notre Dame. The original spire of Notre Dame was built in 1250 and topped with a rooster. In 1606, the rooster with its relics fell in a wind storm but would be mended and returned until 1744. During the Revolution, the spire cracked from the base was removed, and the relics were safely tucked away.
A new spire and rooster were created under the restoration of Viollet-le-Duc and Lassus in 1858. Artist Adolphe Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume designed a new rooster of gold-gilded copper weighing 66 pounds and installed it on June 22, 1860.
The relics of Sainte Genevieve and Saint Denis were again added to a rooster, this time with a piece of the Crown of Thorns personally placed by Viollet-le-Duc. In 1935, the rooster needed a new shiny golden coat, and for the next 84 years, the rooster would spin with the wind high above the Cathedral.
On April 16, 2019 all hope returned when a photo was published of head architect Philippe Villeneuve holding the banged up rooster in his arms and the relics were saved and replaced in the new rooster that returned to the top of the new spire on December 16, 2023.
The last opening has photos of the most important people, the craftsmen and women that brought our cathedral back to life. For over Five years the living breathing stone monument was their baby. Working six days a week stone masons, ornamental artists, painting restorers, construction workers, crane operators and twenty seven other specialties gave their blood, sweat and tears to hand her over to the world. Their group photos sit over a beautiful photo of General Georgolin that came out of retirement to head the project and would tragically die in an accident a little over a year before the reopening.
While the church is made up of stories of Saints, Bishops and the Virgin Mary it is the name of the over two thousand workers that are the true heroes of the construction project of the century.