Its restoration required almost 1,000 hours of work in Fer Art Forge’s workshop, which employs five people. Although the cross was saved, most of its lead decorations melted during the fire and were therefore returned.
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In seven months, Notre Dame Cathedral will reopen to the public. While roofers have been working on the roofs for several weeks, restoration work continues off-site, at an elaborate ironworks in Calvados that has brought the bedside cross back to life.
It stands at a height of 13 meters in the courtyard of the Fer Art Forge ironworks, a small company with five employees in Saint-Aubin-des-Bois: the cross on the apse, which fell on the choir vault, is a remnant of the fire dated April 15, 2019. Alexandre Gury, chairman of Fer Art Forge, remembers his arrival at the workshop. “The cross from the bed of Notre Dame arrived in our workshop bent, twisted, completely curled up.”
“Imagine a spaghetti dish where everything is intertwined and each pasta is placed inside the other. You have exactly what we had on the cross.”
Alexandre Gury, president of the workshopat franceinfo
The restoration required almost 1,000 hours of work, with four people working full time for almost nine months. It was necessary to dismantle all the irons that compose it in order to be able to straighten it. Although the cross was saved, most of its lead decorations melted during the fire. They were therefore returned to restore all the beauty to this Viollet-le-Duc creation. Vincent Combe, project manager at UTB, responsible for covering the choir.
“It is a 19th century cross made of a whole range of iron that fits perfectly into the frame and is connected to a very ornate cross head with floral decorations, lead leaves and a very beautiful lead dragon set into the Tail bites that runs around the small of the back.”
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The cross is the only element of the choir roof that survived the fire. It is a symbol of Philippe Villeneuve, the chief architect of historical monuments who was responsible for the restoration of Notre-Dame. “It is a very symbolic element because it is the last thing we will add to the cathedral to restore its silhouette.” he explains. This cross adds a lot to the image of the cathedral when we see this very graceful apse that ends with this huge cross.”
“And what is even more symbolic is that it is the real cross of Viollet-le-Duc, it is not a refund.”
Philippe Villeneuve, chief architect of historical monumentsat franceinfo
There remains a final phase of restoration, gilding, before the cross is reinstalled on the apse of Notre-Dame, one of the key moments of the reconstruction that Florent Boutroy, one of the ironworkers involved in the restoration, was excited about has waited. “We are waiting impatiently to see it on the cathedral. It’s an honor to be able to work on this body. Furthermore, when I found out that she would arrive at the workshop, I told the boss: ‘Even if it is so.’ “just a hammer blow, I want to give a hammer blow because of the symbolism’”. The new installation of the night cross is planned for the second half of May.
