In the fall of 2023, a hundred treasures of Notre-Dame de Paris will be exhibited in the Petite Galerie du Louvre. The exhibition will not include the relics of the Crown of Thorns, the Wood of the Cross, and the tunic of St. Louis — from the former treasury of Sainte-Chapelle, which were moved to Notre-Dame under Napoleon I — and the Virgin of the Pillar, as these will remain in Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois while the cathedral continues to be rebuilt. Some of the cathedral’s renowned paintings, “Les Grands Mays,” are currently being restored and will also not be on view.
However, it will be possible to discover masterpieces of French goldsmith and silversmith work collected at Notre-Dame de Paris in the 19th century, in particular those crafted by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc during the Second Empire.
The purpose of this exhibition is to go back in time and reconnect with the history of the cathedral’s treasure since Merovingian times, even before the construction of Notre-Dame, whose reopening is scheduled for April 16, 2024, the anniversary of the fire. Inventories, historical accounts, paintings, illuminated manuscripts, engravings and other documents will also take visitors on a journey from the Revolution to the 19th century.
And today we celebrate...