Controversy surrounding the decision to replace some of Notre Dame’s historic windows with a contemporary design has escalated to legal action from a heritage association and calls for peaceful protests.
The long-running controversy over the replacement of six 19th-century stained-glass windows at Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral appears to be entering a new — and potentially decisive — phase.
On April 20, the permit to remove and replace the windows in one of the nave’s southern chapels, designed under Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, the architect behind Notre Dame’s iconic spire, was publicly posted on the cathedral’s railings, triggering an almost immediate legal response. The heritage preservation group “Sites et Monuments,” which watched helplessly as scaffolding was erected on April 27, announced that it would file an urgent legal appeal before the Paris Administrative Court, targeting the authorization itself.
The plan to replace these windows with contemporary creations by French artist Claire Tabouret — unveiled to the public at the Grand Palais late last year — has drawn unusually broad opposition over the past two years, from heritage experts to Catholic figures.
A Battle Over the Cathedral’s Identity
Included among the main arguments against the project are that the Viollet-le-Duc windows belong to
