FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Cynthia Medina, [email protected], 848-445-1940
Rutgers Expert Available to Comment on Notre Dame Cathedral Fire
New Brunswick, N.J. (April 16, 2019) – Laura Weigert, director of Medieval Studies at Rutgers University–New Brunswick and an expert in medieval architecture, is available to discuss the significance of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire.
“We are still waiting to learn about the extent of the damage to Notre-Dame after the fire yesterday,” she said. “It seems that the disaster we had feared, watching the flames and smoke spew from the east end of the building, has been averted. The structure of Notre-Dame is still intact.
Wiegert said the cathedral’s significance is as a symbol of Paris and of history because it preserves information and is a direct connection to the past.
“This building at the heart of Paris is a testimony to medieval ingenuity, technological sophistication, craftsmanship and daring architecture,” she said. “It was the highest church built at the time (measuring about 108 feet from pavement to the crown of the vaults). It displayed the first monumental flying buttresses. Photos circulating of the interior seem reassuring that the damage to the vaults, stained glass rose windows and interior furnishings was relatively contained. What we don't know is how much damage was caused by smoke and water. Smoke damage to the medieval stained-glass windows is of particular concern since it will be difficult if not impossible to restore their colors. We do know that the loss is already inestimable. The wooden frame, below the roof and above the vaults, is gone. This is a material loss of medieval timber dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, but also a loss of the information the frame provided about medieval engineering and artisans.”
Restored in the 1860s under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the spire of the cathedral attested to a 19th-century vision of the medieval past and to 19th-century engineering and restoration practice. Notre-Dame is a palimpsest of historical periods, each one contributing to how it is seen, each one valuable for understanding the building. We might also remember that to build the 12th century cathedral, the earlier Merovingian and Carolingian church structure was demolished and that the most impressive medieval cathedrals were built after a fire destroyed their predecessor. Moving forward, we will need to assure that any changes take into account the expertise of scholars of the Middle Ages and appreciate the alterations, reconstructions and additions on the cathedral up to 2019.”
Laura Weigert, a professor of art history in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers, and can be reached by contacting Cynthia Medina.
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