Unnoticed Fragments of Old Stained Glass in Notre-Dame De Paris

Abstract

It may be assumed that at the time of their construction (1296–1330) the east chapels of Notre-Dame in Paris were furnished throughout with stained glass windows. These were destroyed, perhaps during the Enlightenment or the French Revolution. When Violletle-Duc restored Notre-Dame (1845–1856) the chapels were provided with new stained glass similar in style to that of the thirteenth century. Glass painters of this period liked to set into their new works bits of old glass which were left over after a building had been restored. Here, however, a whole pane was employed and was used as the basis for the design of the entire window (Figs. 1–3). This is probably the chief reason why the pane has been overlooked for nearly a hundred years. The window in question is the first from the left of the three windows in the middle choir chapel and the pane is the first on the left in the second row from the bottom. Another reason why it has not been noticed is the difficulty of gaining access to it from the outside. If one obtains permission to enter the little garden, however, one can clearly see from the patina which of the panes are original. But it is also possible to see from the inside, in the ambulatory, that the pane and the tendril band to the left of it are old, since they are darker in color than the rest of the glass (Fig. 2). No one will question the fact that these portions are ancient. The theory that while the glass is old the design is new, and that the whole pattern is rearrange, is untenable because the faces of the two women and the lines on their garments are different and very much better in quality than those elsewhere in the same window.