The Restoration Movement and the Eclectic Churches of the 19th Century
The Restoration Movement and the Eclectic Churches of the 19th Century
The last French king, Louis-Philippe, who reigned between 1830 and 1848, was responsible for the restoration of many churches and other historic monuments in France. In Paris, the first restoration architect, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, undertook the restoration of three iconic churches: Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, the Sainte-Chapelle, and Notre-Dame. During the Second Empire of Napoléon III that followed shortly after the “July Monarchy” of Louis-Philippe, city architect Victor Baltard (who designed Les Halles) built the Église Saint-Augustin around a metal frame, obviating the need for flying buttresses. The year after the bloody uprising known as “the Commune” of 1871, the City of Paris started the construction of the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, built in pure-white travertine atop Montmartre in a “Neo-Byzantine-Romanesque” style, which would not be consecrated until 1919. André Malraux, France’s first Minister of Cultural Affairs appointed by Charles de Galle in 1958, launched a campaign to clean and restore the churches and other monuments of Paris, which continues unabated to this day.
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About the series: The Evolution of the Church and Ecclesiastical Architecture in Paris From the Middle Ages to Today
With Russell Kelley
Every Thursday at 12 noon Central Time in Chicago/1 pm Eastern Time in Miami/19h Central European Time in Paris – from January 12 through February 16, 2023
Following the success of the Grands Châteaux of the Loire and Ile-de-France and The Making of the French Garden series of online talks, Russell Kelley spent the summer visiting the most beautiful churches of Paris! Our curator extraordinaire returns to offer a series of 6 talks packed with information about another important pillar of France’s cultural and architectural heritage: the extraordinary variety of churches that were built in every commune in France – but especially in Paris – over the past one thousand years.
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This program is presented in partnership with the Alliance Française Chicago with
communication support from the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA
, the Association of American Women in Europe and La
sauvegarde de l'art français