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FRENCH HISTORY

Historic French basilica seeks help to pay for new 90 metre spire

Nearly 180 years after one of Saint-Denis basilica’s twin spires was demolished for safety reasons, work will begin on its restoration, and officials are calling on members of the public to help raise the millions of euros needed.

Published: 6 May 2024 16:34 CEST
Saint-Denis basilica
The Saint-Denis basilica. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Fancy a mediaeval stone?

You might be able to help pay for one if you choose to support the restoration works taking place at the historic Basilica of Saint-Denis, one of the highlights of a trip to the suburb north of Paris.

In order to finance the project, people are being asked to donate to help pay for each individual stone that will help rebuild one of the cathedral’s twin spires that was permanently dismantled in 1847, after the “Tornade de Montville” left it badly damaged.

READ MORE: What you should know about the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis

The devastating tornado destroyed homes, uprooted hundreds of trees and razed three textile mills, killing a reported 70 factory workers, and injuring another 130.

Some 177 years later, long-delayed work to rebuild the 90m spire “stone by stone” is set to begin in the autumn. The rebuild is set to be completed in 2029.

The €37 million renovation will be financed in part by the Interdepartmental Solidarity Fund for Investment (€22 million), the Île-de-France region (€5 million) and the Metropole du Grand Paris (€4 million). 

Public sponsorship is also being sought via the Suivez la Flèche association, which is offering to sponsor the 15,000 “new stones, conforming to the dimensions, shapes and materials of mediaeval stones”. 

Officials hope to raise between €3.5 million and €5 million. 

Donors will be asked to pay between €15 and €3,000 towards each stone – the price set by each block’s location on the spire.

In return, they will receive a digital replica of the stone, along with a certifying non-fungible token (NFT).

Why visit the Basilica?

The area is often overlooked by people visiting France’s capital, but the suburb will play an important role during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The Basilica is one of its key cultural attractions.

The Basilica’s website says it is the final resting place for “forty-two kings, thirty-two queens, sixty-three princes and princesses and ten men of the kingdom rest in peace there. With over seventy recumbent effigies and monumental tombs, the royal necropolis of the basilica is today the most significant group of funerary sculptures from the 12th to the 16th century in Europe.”

And if you do visit then look out for the 12th and 19th-century stained glass windows.

The historically and architecturally important basilica was named after Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris who is believed to have been buried near the site in 250 CE. 

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CULTURE

Why is the Mona Lisa so famous (and why is it even in France)?

Being lauded as either the greatest artwork in the world or the most overrated tourist attraction in France, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa does not struggle to get attention. But why is this small portrait so famous?

Published: 17 May 2024 17:47 CEST
Why is the Mona Lisa so famous (and why is it even in France)?

Paris’ Louvre museum has recently announced that the Mona Lisa painting is to get its own room, a move that is at least partly in reaction to increasing complaints about the artwork being overrated, while tourists struggle to see it in the small, crowded space.

There aren’t many paintings that get a room of their own, so just what is it about Mona Lisa (or La Joconde as she is known in France) that attracts so many millions of tourists each year – and should you bother going to see her?

Why is it in France?

Let’s start with why the painting is in France in the first place, since both painter and subject are Italian (although Italy at that time was still a collection of city states which would not be unified into the modern country until 1861). 

In short, Mona Lisa is in France because her creator Leonardo da Vinci travelled with her, and he was in France when he died in 1519. The reason that he was in France is that he spent the last years of his life working on special commissions for king François I. He died at the Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise, in France’s Loire Valley. 

Upon his death Mona Lisa was taken into the French royal collection and various descendants of François I hung her in their palaces until the French Revolution happened in 1793.

After the Revolution, with the exception of a brief stint in Napoleon’s palace, the painting entered the collection of the newly-created Louvre gallery which – in the spirit of revolutionary equality – was opened up to the people so that they too could enjoy great art.

Various requests over the years – some polite, others less so – from Italy to return the painting have been firmly declined by the French state. 

When did it get famous?

In the 18th and 19th centuries Leonardo’s painting was a popular exhibit among museum visitors, but didn’t have any particular fame and wasn’t regarded as any more special than the numerous other artworks exhibited there.

Although some academic interest in the painting’s subject – most commonly thought to be Lisa Gherardini, wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo – stirred in the 19th century, her real fame didn’t arrive until 1911.

This is when the painting was stolen from the Louvre, a crime that became a sensation and a cause celèbre in France, even more so when the painting was finally found in 1913 after the thief had attempted to sell it in Italy.

The fame of the painting and the crime inspired contemporary artists such as Marcel Duchamp who created a playful reproduction of Mona Lisa (complete with beard and moustache) which in turn enhanced the painting’s recognition. The artistic trend continued with everyone from Andy Warhol to the ubiquitous student posters of Mona Lisa smoking a joint.

Former chairman of the French Communist Party Robert Hue views moustachioed Mona Lisa by dadaist painter Marcel Duchamp, lent out by his party for the first time for an exhibition in January 2002. Photo by NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP

A tour of the painting to the US in 1963 and to Japan in 1974 further enhanced the celebrity status.

21st century

These days it’s perhaps accurate to say that the painting is simply famous because it’s famous. As the best-known piece of art in the world it’s automatically on many tourists’ ‘must see’ list when they come to Paris – and a lot of tourists come to Paris (roughly 44 million per year).

Meanwhile the Louvre is the most-visited museum in the world, attracting roughly 9 million visitors a year.

Although some visitors find the painting itself disappointing (it’s very small, just 77cm by 53cm) the most common complaint is that the room is too crowded – many people report that it’s so jammed with visitors that it’s hard to even see the picture never mind spend time contemplating the artwork.

Should I go and see it?

It really depends on what you like – if your taste in art is firmly in the more modern camp then you probably won’t find that this painting particularly speaks to you. You will, however, find a lot in Paris that is much more to your taste, running from the Musée d’Orsay (mostly art created between 1848 and 1914) to the Pompidou Centre (featuring contemporary and experimental art) and much, much more.

If, however, Renaissance art is your bag then you’ll struggle to find a finer example of it than Mona Lisa, with her beautiful brushwork, detailed and intriguing background and realistic presentation.

If you do decide to visit, then be prepared for the gallery to be crowded – the Louvre now operates on a pre-booking basis but even having a pre-booked ticket won’t save you from the crowds.

If possible try to avoid the summer and school holidays and prioritise weekdays over weekends – the early morning or late evening slots tend to be a little quieter than others, but you’re going to have to be prepared to share her with many other art-lovers.

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