Notre-Dame fire, rescued works will be sheltered and restored at the Louvre

The large altarpieces of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris that survived the fire that devastated the building will be housed and restored at the Louvre starting Friday. This was announced by French Culture Minister Franck Riester. “The great paintings of Notre-Dame did not suffer damage related to the fire, but if anything to the smoke,” the minister said. “From Friday they will be safely transported to the Louvre where they will undergo dehumidification and undergo restoration.” At the moment, the paintings remain temporarily at Paris City Hall. Little news has leaked out about the individual works, including paintings by Italian artists (Guido Reni and Ludovico Carracci) kept in Notre-Dame. However, the cathedral’s rector, Patrick Chauvet, told Agence France Inter that the thirteen mays, the great seventeenth-century altarpieces(more on them at this link), have been secured and have already reached Paris City Hall. Work to secure the building will last for another 48 hours, Secretary of State for the Interior Laurent Nunez announced.

The fire also touched the large rose windows, but the latter “apparently did not suffer catastrophic damage,” the minister specified. Rector Chauvet went into more specifics, saying that one of the rosettes will have to be disassembled so that it is not in danger of collapsing. Again, the Grande Orgue, the major organ, was not touched by the flames, but its structure may have been affected by collateral damage. Organist Philippe Lefèvre, who has worked at Notre-Dame for thirty-five years, let it be known that the organ was “partly preserved, but it is covered by rubble, dust and water. We hope that the organ’s structure will hold up and that it will be repaired as soon as possible.”

In the meantime, donations are being announced: after the 100 million from the Pinault family (Christie’s) and the 200 from the Arnault family (Louis Vuitton), crowdfuding platforms halfway around the world have been collecting subscriptions from private citizens, and another 100 million from Total and 200 million from the Bettencourt-Meyers family, owners of the multinational L’Oreal, have been added. At the moment, however, there is still no estimate of the damage, nor is it known how long it will take to rebuild.

Pictured is an image of the interior of the cathedral after the fire.

Notre-Dame fire, rescued works will be sheltered and restored at the Louvre

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