For seven years, the sculpted scenes of the choir tower of Chartres Cathedral have gradually moved from shadow to light. By the end of February 2022, this stone wall that runs along the ambulatory of Notre-Dame will have regained all its original brilliance.
What is this little-known gem reborn in Chartres Cathedral?
Visitors will then be able to admire, down to the smallest detail, the forty scenes that evoke the life of the Virgin Mary and then of Jesus, shaped by different artists over two hundred years, between the 16the and the XVIIIe century.
This masterpiece, long eclipsed by the 13th century stained glasse century of the cathedral, has benefited from innovative restoration techniques. Without forgetting the unfailing support of the association of Friends of Chartres Cathedral, which contributed more than half of the necessary funding in addition to the state subsidies obtained by the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs Centre-Val de Loire .
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Four phases of work
Four phases of work have followed since 2015, with different techniques for cleaning the sculptures blackened and damaged by the weight of centuries. “We adapt according to the nature of the stones treated”, explains Amélie Méthivier, conservator-restorer of sculptures and representative of a group of fifteen co-contractors who intervene for this final phase of restoration:
“We basically cleaned with water and used steam for the deepest spots. »
Amelie Methivier (Conservator and restorer of sculptures)
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From time to time, poultices were applied, mostly to the freestone, to rid it of the thick layers of dirt and accumulated dust. “A mixture of paper powder, clay and very diluted glue”, specifies Amélie Méthivier.
Even if the sculptures currently restored are among the most recent of the choir tower, they too have suffered shocks and lost quite a few elements. At the feet of Amélie Méthivier, rest, on a tarpaulin, carefully listed, the pieces that threatened to come off. They will be put back in place and consolidated with adhesive. A last intervention will be carried out, at the beginning of March, on the whole of the choir tower to harmonize the covering whitewashes.
Tower of the choir of Chartres Cathedral: the Passion of Christ being restored [vidéo]
A study day on the choir tower will be organized on Friday June 10 by the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs Centre-Val de Loire in partnership with the Friends of the Cathedral, at the Les Enfants du Paradis cinema. University studies and 3D reconstructions will be presented.
The choir tour in numbers
200 years were needed to build the choir enclosure of Chartres Cathedral, begun in 1514 by the architect Jehan de Beauce and completed in 1727.
7 years work since the launch of the first phase of restoration of the choir tower in 2015.
40 sculpted scenescreated by nine different artists and retracing the life of the Virgin Mary and then of Jesus, follow one another on the 100 m long and 7 m high choir tower.
2,5 millions euros invested in the restoration of the choir tower, including 1.7 million financed by the Friends of Chartres Cathedral association.
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Laurence Franceschina
[email protected]
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