Paintings saved from the fire in Notre Dame Cathedral are on display in Paris

Paintings saved five years ago from a fire in Notre Dame Cathedral are on display in the Mobilier National exhibition hall in Paris. They have undergone a thorough restoration and will soon be ready to return to the cathedral when it opens after restoration.

Mobilier National is an organization that is engaged in the preservation of cultural heritage, including the restoration of works of art. After the fire that engulfed the main Paris cathedral on April 15, 2019, 13 paintings from the 17th century were brought here. They are part of a series of 76 canvases on biblical subjects painted by various artists between 1630 and 1707 for the decoration of Notre Dame.

Mobilier National restorers restored the painting for more than four years. According to them, the paintings were damaged by smoke, soot and water from extinguishing the fire, but nothing irreparable happened.

The exhibition will last until July 24. At the end of the year, the paintings will be moved to Notre Dame Cathedral – it is planned to be opened to visitors already this year.

• The fire in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris (Notre Dame) occurred on the evening of April 15, 2019. The fire completely destroyed the upper part of the cathedral, the roof and the 96-meter spire. However, the stone walls survived, and the interior of the cathedral was preserved and restored.
• The restoration of the cathedral was hampered by the fact that due to the use of toxic materials such as lead by the builders of previous centuries, the space around Notre Dame had to be decontaminated. In addition, restoration work was suspended during the coronavirus pandemic. Now the restoration is coming to an end. The cathedral is planned to reopen to the public no later than the end of 2024.