European Heritage Days - Notre Dame Church

Although the building was modified in the 17th century, it still retains some elements of the structure that was completed in the 15th century at the foot of Saint-Sigismond Hill, in particular the ogee arches above the side entrance. The main portal, made of gray marble from the nearby Villette quarry, draws directly on the principles set forth by François Cuenot in 1660 in his book on architecture.
The trompe-l’œil paintings on the vaults were commissioned in the mid-19th century by three brothers—Alexandre, Auguste, and Antoine Artari—artists from Valsesia in Piedmont. They depict the four major prophets of the Old Testament, the Evangelists, and the four Fathers of the Latin Church.
The sculptor Jean-Baptiste Delponte reconstructed the main altarpiece in 1813 using elements from Jacques Clérant’s original altarpiece that had survived the destruction of the Revolution, and following Clérant’s sketches. At its center, the painting of the Nativity of the Virgin by Jean-Pierre Tosi (1803) is framed by twisted columns adorned with vine branches and rosebushes, with Saint Peter and Saint Paul on either side.
The second tier features Saint Grat and Saint Roch—frequently invoked for the protection of crops (in the case of the former) and against the plague (in the case of the latter)—accompanied by Saint James and Saint Francis de Sales.
The pulpit, carved by Jean-François Bernard in 1705, as well as the choir stalls created by Pierre Chanu in 1728, no doubt deemed useful for addressing the crowd and for the rest of the revolutionary officials, were preserved in 1794, unlike the altarpieces: The six you see in the side aisles are 19th-century restorations in the Neoclassical style.