Notre-Dame de Paris - The Stained-Glass Dispute 1935-1965

Published for the exhibition Notre-Dame de Paris - La querelle des vitraux 1935-1965, presented at the Cité du Vitrail, Troyes (22 June 2024 - 5 January 2025).

In 1935, the problem arose of replacing the stained glass windows installed by Viollet-le-Duc in the cathedral's upper bays; the windows, installed by the architect in the 18th century, were devoid of decoration and judged to be ‘stingy and greenish’, ‘timid and sad’, and of no artistic or aesthetic interest whatsoever!

Twelve great glass artists were mobilised, and they were given precise instructions by the Commission des Monuments Historiques (CMH): the stained glass windows in the northern part of the nave should be in predominantly cool tones (blue), while those to the south should be in warm tones (red and yellow). Alas, it was argued that the Commission had exceeded its rights, and fierce supporters of a return to medieval stained glass windows were unleashed. The result: the project was abandoned.

The Cité du Vitrail de Troyes has been able to recover, restore and exhibit most of the work of these artists. Beaux Arts Éditions accompanies the exhibition, presenting the specific nature of medieval stained glass and that of Viollet-le-Duc's stained glass windows, which have been called into question, and showing these 1935 windows, leaving the reader free to make his or her own judgement at a time when a new dispute is emerging over the replacement of certain stained glass windows following the fire at Notre-Dame.