![]() ![]() ![]() More eye-opening is how Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, set in the 15th century, enabled its resurrection. Unsurprisingly, the French Revolution had much to do with the falling out: seen as a symbol of the repressive power structure, revolutionaries tore down massive sculptures and left the cathedral desecrated and endangered. The church transformed Paris from a small provincial village into a world capital, yet fell out of, then back into, favor with Parisians. The program includes fascinating insights-the intricately-carved western facade was once full of garish color windows were enlarged then shrunk to meet drainage demands-and breakdowns showing how craftsmen realized elements like the vaunted vaulted ceilings, while exploring how the currents of French history flowed into, out of, and around the building. And while it touches on the 2019 fire in its opening and final moments, the program is more interested in how Notre-Dame became what the narrator calls a “hybrid monument,” and what happened from the laying of the first stone in 1163 by Bishop Maurice de Sully to the wood-heavy 1844 restoration undertaken by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc that gave the building it’s iconic shape. Notre-Dame Cathedral in 1847, photo by Hippolyte BayardĪiring as part of the series " Secrets of the Dead," Building Notre Dame is a 55-minute exploration of how the cathedral-with its glorious stained-glass windows and gargoyle-tipped flying buttresses-was built. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |