France, the land of cathedrals, has the largest surface area of stained glass in the world, more than 950,000 square feet. Stained glass windows are a veritable Bible of glass, through the scenes they depict, the techniques they employ, and the colors they use. They exist to carry the prayers of the faithful as much as to give glory to God.
Notre-Dame Cathedral promises to be a fine example of this. In December 2023, following a letter from the Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich, the French president announced the launch of a competition to replace the stained glass windows installed by Viollet-le-Duc in Notre-Dame de Paris in the 19th century.
The windows to be replaced
Since the publication of the invitation to submit, we know a little more about the iconographic program of these contemporary stained glass windows. They will replace grisaille stained glass windows “lined with white glass surrounded by a blue band adorned with fleurs-de-lis, in the upper bays, [which] cast a white, even harsh light into the cathedral,” according to a description in the specifications appended to the invitation to tender.
These stained glass windows, still in situ, will be removed to make way for contemporary figurative and historiated creations depicting the Pentecost episode recounted in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2,1-4):
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
In the south aisle, the new stained glass windows will be installed in the six chapels flanking the chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, which already features the Jesse Tree created in 1864 by Édouard Didron under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.
The Jesse Tree
This Jesse Tree will be preserved and complemented, as it were, by six contemporary works. Each of these contemporary stained glass windows will deal with a verse from the Acts of the Apostles that recounts the story of Pentecost. The saints to whom these side chapels are already dedicated will be associated with one of the seven gifts or works of the Holy Spirit evoked in Isaiah's prophecy announcing the birth of Christ (Is 11:1-4) and depicted in the Tree of Jesse:
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth
A detailed, figurative iconographic program
“St. Joseph thus embodies the Spirit of fear of God,” explains the bishop, “St. Thomas Aquinas the Spirit of intelligence, St. Clotilde the Spirit of counsel, St. Vincent de Paul the Spirit of service, St. Geneviève the Spirit of strength, St. Denys the Spirit of mission, and St. Paul Chen the Spirit of unity.”
The choice of the Pentecost iconography is no coincidence, according to the document: “Not only does the Spirit rest on Christ, but it is sent by him to the Church and unfolds its work in the saints to whom the chapels are dedicated.”
In short, these six stained glass windows will each correspond to a Pentecost theme and a Bible verse, on either side of the St. Thomas Aquinas chapel, where the Jesse Tree already appears. The Aisle of Pentecost, as it is called, will thread from chapel to chapel and verse to verse, from east to west, the episode recounted in the Acts of the Apostles.
As for the stained glass windows, they will be brightly colored to reflect the light on the blond Lutecian limestone that has been exposed since the painted decorations were scraped away in the 1960s. The tones of the contemporary creations will be chosen to harmoniously match those of the Jesse Tree.
The iconographic program also specifies the terms of the “sober” figuration: “the bodies, faces and reactions of the first Christian assembly must appear [...] but it must respond to the wording of each verse, so that each bay is eloquent in itself, without requiring long explanatory labels.”
The six bays will therefore form part of a coherent whole, chromatically matching the existing Jesse Tree, in keeping with the architecture of the building. Each stained-glass window will pay homage to the Holy Spirit and “his manifestation, both fiery and peaceful, fiery and gentle, serene and luminous.”
