Go-ahead for Notre-Dame makevover

French heritage authorities have approved the Catholic Church’s controversial, modern redesign of the interior of Notre-Dame cathedral.

Workers on the roof of Notre-Dame remove the burnt scaffolding last year. Picture: AFP

French heritage authorities have approved the Catholic Church’s controversial, modern redesign of the interior of Notre-Dame cathedral, despite the concerns of 100 art historians, heritage ­architects, museum curators and senior academics.

In a letter in Le Figaro last week, critics of the redesign said the resurrection of the cathedral, which was badly burned on April 15 2019, “is seriously compromised’’.

“The Diocese of Paris wants to take advantage of the restoration project to transform the interior of Notre-Dame into a project that would completely alter the decor and the liturgical space,’’ the letter said. “The diocese believes that the destruction caused by the fire is an opportunity to transform the visitor’s perception of the monument, even though the fire was limited to the roof and the spire and did not destroy any of the heritage.’’

The proposed changes, the letter said, included “removable benches, lighting that changes according to the seasons, video projections on the walls – the same fashionable (and therefore already terribly outdated) ­‘mediation devices’ that can be found in all ‘immersive’ cultural projects’’. Street art installations and Bible quotes to be projected in several languages on the walls have been proposed. Little-used 19th century confessional boxes could be replaced by works by noteworthy contemporary artists.

Signatories included the honorary director-general of Versailles and Trianons, heritage curators from the Louvre, Sorbonne professors, members of the Academie Francaise and the British Library’s Romanesque collections curator. They said that while the rubble of the cathedral was still smoking, ­“millions of people, of all nationalities, spontaneously mobilised to collect the money needed to restore the monument. Nearly one billion euros were raised. These donations were declarations of love for Notre-Dame ­Cathedral. They testified to our confidence in our ability to ­revive this sublime artistic and spiritual patrimony’’.

Restorers, and craftsmen must fulfil French President ­Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to make Notre Dame “more beautiful than before the fire – as sublime as it was bequeathed to us’’. The design should respect the work of Viollet-le-Duc, the architect who overhauled the 12th-century cathedral in the late 1800s, in keeping with its original Gothic style. One architect said the plan risked turning Notre-Dame “into Disneyland”.

In 1969, British art historian Kenneth Clark began his landmark television series Civilisation standing in front of the cathedral, posing the question “What is civilisation?’’ His answer was: “I’m looking at it now.’’

Church authorities insist the plans are not revolutionary and will offer visitors a warmer welcome. On Thursday, 20 experts of the National Heritage and ­Architecture Commission voted for them. The cathedral, which normally draws 12 million visitors a year, will reopen in 2024, before the Paris Olympics.