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Home>Research>Library>Image Collections>Before the Fire: Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures

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# Before the Fire: Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures

Immortalized in art and literature, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris is *the* enduring symbol of the city of Paris. It is no surprise, then, that so many people around the world—some who may have never visited it—feel the loss caused by the catastrophic fire of April 15, 2019.

To help mitigate the shock of the images of the fire’s destruction, the department of image collections of the National Gallery of Art Library has selected a variety of photographs documenting the building and its place in the Parisian landscape. These images range in date from 1852 (a salt print by Henri Le Secq, from the early days of the invention of photography) to the modern era, including a selection from the documentary campaign of scholar Clarence Ward and his photographer, Arthur Princehorn, from the late 1920s to early 1930s. Many early French photographic firms are known today only by their initials, “A. G.” or “X” as examples.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Aerial view of Paris, c. 1937. Photograph by the Compagnie aérienne française, from the René Huyghe Archive.

See Notre-Dame, center right.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Aerial view of Paris, 1941. From an album of photographs taken by the Luftwaffe Unit 4. (F)/11 in occupied France.

See Notre-Dame, center left.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of Paris, c. 1890. From the Gramstorff Archive.

See Notre-Dame, skyline, center left.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
South façade and apse, c. 1890. From the Gramstorff Archive.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
West and south facades, c. 1890. From the Gramstorff Archive.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
West and south facades, c. 1900. From the album, *Souvenir de Paris,* 1900, photochrome by Photochrom Zürich.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
West front of the cathedral, before 1860. Photo by Bisson Frères.

This is the first of three views showing changes during the 19th-century restoration. Note the Galerie des Rois (Gallery of the Kings) arcade, which dates to the first third of the 13th century, with representations of the Kings of Judah. In this earliest of the three photos of the west façade, the arcade is empty, as it was before the architects Viollet-Le-Duc and Lassus began their reconstruction of Notre-Dame in 1844. At that time, none of these statues remained, having been destroyed during the Revolution as symbols of royal despotism. Note, also, that there is no spire; the original was taken down in 1786 because it was unstable.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
West front of the cathedral, before 1864. Unknown photographer.

In the second photo, many of the new statues are in place on the facade, but not all.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
West front of the cathedral, before 1864. Photo by X. Phot. (Neurdein Frères).

In the third photo, all the niches of the arcade are occupied and the new spire appears, dating this photo to c. 1864, when the Viollet-le-Duc restoration was completed.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of the west towers from the roof of the south transept. Photo: Clarence Ward Archive, Arthur Princehorn, photographer, 1932.

The flying buttresses allowed the walls to rise higher and accommodate larger windows.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of the south transept and choir. Photo: Clarence Ward Archive, Arthur Princehorn, photographer, 1932.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of the ambulatory buttresses. Photo: Clarence Ward Archive, Arthur Princehorn, photographer, 1932.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of the apse, north side. Photo by N. D. (Neurdein Frères).

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of the apse, c. 1890. From the Gramstorff Archive.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of the apse windows. Photo by Bisson Frères.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of the spire and roof from the north tower of the west front. Photo: Clarence Ward Archive, Arthur Princehorn, photographer, 1929.

Viollet-le-Duc replaced the spire, removed in the 18th century, with a more idealized Gothic spire complete with statues of the 12 apostles and symbols of the four evangelists. These statues were removed for restoration days before the fire began. The spire was topped with a wrought-copper rooster, an unofficial symbol of France, and was recovered after the fire.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of the statues ascending to the spire. Photo by N. D. (Neurdein Frères).

The statues of the apostles are accompanied by an eagle, the symbol for the evangelist Mark.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of the roof and spire. Photo by N. D. (Neurdein Frères).

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of Paris beyond the gargoyles of the west towers. Photo by A. N.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Gargoyles of the west towers. Photo from the René Huyghe Archive.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Pelican gargoyle. Photo by N. D. (Neurdein Frères).

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Portal. Photo from the René Huyghe Archive.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Porte Rouge, third bay of the choir, north side. Photo by N. D. (Neurdein Frères).

The Red Door, or Porte Rouge, was built by architect Pierre de Montreuil in the second half of the 13th century. It connected the cloister, where the canons lived, and the choir of the cathedral to facilitate their access.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
West façade, center portal, trumeau. Photo by X. Phot. (Neurdein Frères).

The center pillar of the portal (or trumeau) depicts a figure of Christ teaching. The doors, with their arabesque strap hinges, were restored in the 19th century. An allegory of alchemy is carved in the roundel under Christ’s feet and features a ladder in the center of the composition.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Tympanum of the portal of the south transept. Photo by Henri Le Secq, 1852.

This portal, known as Saint Stephen’s Portal, is dated 1257 in an inscription that also identifies the master-mason as Jean de Chelles. The sculpture program depicts the life and martyrdom of Saint Stephen.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Sculptural decoration of an archivolt, c. 1875. Photo by A. G. (Adolphe Giraudon)

The birds are carved with anthropomorphic facial features.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Head of a king, c. 1875. Photo by A. G. (Adolphe Giraudon)

Possibly from the Galerie des Rois. In 1977, 400 fragments of the statuary from Notre-Dame were discovered buried at a site in the Parisian district of the Chaussée d'Antin, including 21 of the 28 heads of kings. They are currently exhibited at the Cluny Museum.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Head of an apostle, c. 1875. Photo by A. G. (Adolphe Giraudon)

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Head of a deacon, c. 1875. Photo by A. G. (Adolphe Giraudon)

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Saint Marcel baptizing a neophyte, c. 1875. Photo by A. G. (Adolphe Giraudon)

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Interior view of the nave and choir. Photo: Clarence Ward Archive, Arthur Princehorn, photographer, 1932.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Interior view of the nave from the choir. Photo by N. D. (Neurdein Frères).

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View northwest into the nave from the south transept. Photo: Clarence Ward Archive, Arthur Princehorn, photographer, 1932.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
North transept. Photo by Ed. H. Phot.

The North rose window was constructed around 1250.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
South transept. Photo by Ed. H. Phot.

The south rose window is the largest of the three in Notre-Dame and was built around 1260. It measures over 42 feet in diameter and has 94 medallions featuring the life of Christ. It was donated to the cathedral by King Louis IX.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View from the choir into the nave. Photo by N. D. (Neurdein Frères).

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Choir. Detail of bishop’s chair and choir stalls. Photo by N. D. (Neurdein Frères).

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
View of the choir ambulatory. Photo: Clarence Ward Archive, Arthur Princehorn, photographer, 1932.

Before the Fire:  Notre-Dame de Paris in Pictures
Vaulting of the choir.  Photo: Clarence Ward Archive, Arthur Princehorn, photographer, 1932.

Click on a slide above to view a larger image and detailed description (39 images total)

In 1160, the Romanesque cathedral that stood on the site was demolished so that a new Gothic structure could be built reusing many of the same stones. Construction began in 1163 with King Louis VII and Pope Alexander III presiding at the laying of the cornerstone. The choir and ambulatories at the east end were completed in 1177 and the high altar was consecrated in 1182. The second wave of construction commenced in 1182; work on the nave, west facade, and the shallow bays serving as transepts was largely completed by 1250. In the 13th century, through the use of flying buttresses, the walls of the nave and choir were raised higher and made thinner so they could be punctuated with brilliantly colored stained-glass windows. Construction on the cathedral was completed in 1345.

Notre-Dame survived various uprisings and wars over the centuries, including the French Revolution, although sculptures decorating the façade were vandalized. By the early decades of the 19th century, the edifice was in poor condition and restoration was authorized by King Louis-Philippe. The commission was awarded to Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus, who restored and recreated Notre-Dame in a more romantic Gothic ideal popular in the 19th century. One of their most notable additions was a new spire, one that was taller and enhanced with figures of the apostles and evangelists, to replace the old one removed in the 18th century. They also added many of the gargoyles that are so popular with viewers today.

The fire on April 15 destroyed much of the roof of the cathedral and the spire. The exterior walls, towers, buttresses, pipe organ, and stained glass seem to have survived unscathed, but the exact condition of these elements is still being assessed as the building is stabilized. A significant portion of the artworks and decorations inside the church was also rescued, but a list of lost works has not yet been assembled. Plans for rebuilding Notre-Dame have already begun in the hope that a new spire will one day rise as a symbol of the renewed cathedral.

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