Notre-Dame's Iconic Rose Windows Are Reportedly Safe Following Monday's Fire at the Cathedral
Notre-Dame's three famed rose windows were reportedly spared from Monday night's fire.
“The large rose windows don’t appear to have suffered catastrophic damage,” Benoist de Sinety, the bishop of the Archdiocese of Paris, said Monday night, per The New York Times.
Maxime Cumunel, the secretary general of France’s Observatory for Religious Heritage, also confirmed that the stained-glass windows, which date back to the 13th century, survived the fire. But their exact condition is still unknown.
“It seems they have not been destroyed for now, although we’ll have to see what real state they’re in, and whether they can be restored properly,” Cumunel said, according to Reuters.
Cathedral spokesman André Finot was a bit more hopeful. "It’s a bit of a miracle. We’re very relieved," he told BFMTV.
The most significant relics held at Notre-Dame, including the Crown of Thorns, which the faithful believe was worn by Jesus Christ ahead of his crucifixion, were also rescued from the fire, thanks in part to a heroic priest named Father Jean-Marc Fournier.
"Father Fournier is an absolute hero," an emergency worker said, per Newsweek. "He showed no fear at all as he made straight for the relics inside the cathedral, and made sure they were saved. He deals with life and death every day, and shows no fear."
But some of the other significant artworks held within the Cathedral were not so lucky.
“We have avoided a complete disaster. But some five to 10 percent of the artwork has probably been destroyed, we have to face up to that,” Cumunel said.
Now that the fire is finally out, The Guardian reports that several works that had been housed in the Cathedral have been transferred to the Louvre to be "dehumidified, protected and eventually restored."
In general, the damage is continuing to be evaluated, but French President Emmanuel Macron has promised that the monument will be rebuilt.
"We'll rebuild this cathedral together," he said. “Because that is what the French expect.”
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