Paintings saved from Notre Dame blaze to go on show in Paris

Twenty one paintings saved from the fire that engulfed the Notre Dame in 2019 will go on show in an exhibition at the Mobilier National in Paris, France’s national furniture collection (24 April-21 July). These include 13 works from the Mays series, a collection of 76 religious paintings historically offered to the cathedral by the goldsmith guilds of the city of Paris each year in the month of May. The Mays, made between 1630 and 1707, include works by artists such as Jacques Blanchard and Charles Le Brun.

Emmanuel Pénicaut, director of collections at Mobilier National, told The Observer newspaper: “We were lucky to get them out quite quickly with just a little water damage and dust. It was rather miraculous.” The oak frame of the historic building located on Paris’s Île de la Cité in the Seine river, and the 19th-century spire, were destroyed in the blaze.

The Mays works were restored by experts at the state heritage body, Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Île-de-France or Drac Île-de-France, in partnership with the Mobilier National and the Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France. “Since the fire of 2019, nearly 1,000 craftsmen have worked daily to restore the cathedral [including] painting restorers. They are the ones who gave new life and colour to the great Mays”, a statement from Le Mobilier National says.

According to the Notre Dame restoration website: “The chosen [Mays scenes]—the Acts of the Apostles, the Gospels or the founding themes of the Counter-Reformation—and their interpretation in the Baroque style are testament to the revival of religious art in the 17th century.” The Mays paintings were split up during the French revolution but were reunited at Notre Dame in the early 20th century.

The paintings are due to be returned to the cathedral when it reopens later this year. Last December President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the date for a partial reopening of Notre Dame (8 December 2024). The ongoing restoration phase, which began in September 2021 with project studies, has a budget of at least €550m, confirmed General Georgelin, the late official who was in charge of reconstructing the cathedral.

The exhibition of Notre Dame treasures at Le Mobilier National also includes part of a 27-metre long rug commissioned by the 19th-century French monarch Charles X. This “choir carpet” was also restored in the workshops of Le Mobilier National.

Also on view are 14 tapestries depicting the life of the Virgin Mary, which were originally intended for the choir area of Notre-Dame. The 17th-century works were acquired by Strasbourg cathedral where they have been housed since 1739.

Crucially, the show will also feature liturgical furniture designed by the French designer Guillaume Bardet. The French ministry of culture says in a statement that “alongside these major works of the 17th and the 19th century, the exhibition will present the contemporary creations imagined by Bardet [including the baptistery, altar and tabernacle].”