[Sculpture of Virgin and Child, Notre Dame, Paris]

1853–1854
Not on view
The mid-nineteenth-century's renewed interest in France's medieval past resulted in the restoration-sometimes heavy handed, sometimes imaginative-of many of the nation's most important monuments. The work on Notre Dame, which suffered deliberate damage during the Revolution and neglect in the years that followed, began in 1845 and lasted some twenty-five years. Under the direction of Viollet le Duc, new statuary was commissioned, including this sculpture of the Virgin and Child, a work by Adolphe Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume. In Mestral's photograph, which comes from the Geoffroy-Dechaume archives, the heavenly figures remain earthbound on the construction site; shortly after, they would be lifted to a central position on the west façade, above the main portal and in front of the rose window.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: [Sculpture of Virgin and Child, Notre Dame, Paris]
  • Artist: Auguste Mestral (French, Rans 1812–1884 Rans)
  • Date: 1853–1854
  • Medium: Salted paper print from paper negative
  • Dimensions: 35.1 x 27.6 cm (13 13/16 x 10 7/8 in. )
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2000
  • Object Number: 2000.290
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.