Viollet-le-Duc’s Idiosyncrasy

first      previous      next      last     

This photo shows part of the idiosyncrasy of Viollet-le-Duc’s nineteenth-century restoration of Notre-Dame.

Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc /œʒɛn ɛmanyɛl violɛ lə dyk/ was a gifted architect who spent twenty years of his life directing restoration of the cathedral in the mid-1800s. He did a marvelous job, and made every effort to remain faithful to the original design of the structure, as best it could be ascertained from the remaining structure and whatever historical documents could be unearthed.

Nevertheless, Viollet-le-Duc could not resist placing a few tiny references to himself in the restored architecture. He rebuilt the central spire of the cathedral, which had disappeared in previous centuries, and when he did so, he surrounded the spire at its base with statues of religious figures (mostly apostles). All of the figures are noble and solemn, except one … namely, a statue of Viollet-le-Duc himself! In theory the statue is of Thomas the apostle, but in fact Viollet-le-Duc was the model.

The statue is on the southeast corner of the central spire; it is the topmost figure on that corner, as you can see here. Note that all of the figures are looking down at the ground below, except for the statue of the architect, which appears to be looking up in amazement at the architect’s own work. Notice also the yardstick that he is holding in his hand, and his hair style, which at a distance looks mysteriously like an engineer’s pith construction helmet. This is his subtle personal signature on the restoration. It is only visible if you are explicitly looking for it, but once you have seen it, it is hard to miss or ignore.

This statue can be easily seen from the ground, southeast of the cathedral, particularly in the square Jean XXIII. The front of the statue is not readily visible, unfortunately, since the spire is not open to the public. It can be seen from the opposite side of the cathedral, if you are on the other side of the Seine River, but that is quite a distance away. Someday I plan to go out there with a huge telephoto lens and get a picture of the front of this statue for the edification of my visitors. I half expect to see his statue sticking out its tongue or looking cross-eyed at the spire, but I suppose that Viollet-le-Duc wasn’t quite that willing to assert his independence!

The inset on the lower right shows the position of the statue with respect to the full cathedral, as seen from the pont de l’Archevêché.

Viollet-le-Duc also used himself for the model for one of the kings on the facade of the cathedral, but I have not been able to find out which one.

Photographed in 2001.