3-011-603 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Restoration of Notre Dame, Paris: the Western Façade, 1862. '...the exterior and interior restoration...will have occupied exactly a quarter of a century when finished...[The work is] being proceeded with in all due haste; several years, however, will yet be required for its restoration to the rank it deserves to occupy as one of the most perfect specimens of Gothic art in France...M. Viollet-le-Duc, the eminent architect charged with this colossal undertaking...informs us that the restoration was commenced...in 1845...and will be completely terminated in 1869...This splendid facade, the finest portion of one of the most richly decorated of Christan edifices, and equally remarkable for the perfect unity of its sentiment and the grandeur of its proportions, was begun...in 1210...The stone spires originally intended to be added to the towers...were never erected. M. Viollet-le-Duc also kindly informs us that, if the western facade...had been totally reconstructed, the cost would have been twenty-five millions of francs at least; whereas the restoration of this portion (including the belfries in the towers) will have been accomplished, in the most satisfactory manner, for about two millions of francs (£80,000)'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.