“What the president wants, God wants,” Stéphane Bern criticizes Emmanuel Macron’s interference in the stained glass windows of Notre-Dame

“I don’t think we’re any closer to seeing these stained glass windows. And then 4 million euros, does France have them now ? »questions Stéphane Bern in an interview with West France, published on December 28. The announcement of the artist chosen to design the new stained glass windows of Notre-Dame revives debates around modernization and fidelity to the historic heritage of the monument. The host and defender of heritage denounces the arbitrary presidential intervention in this project, which he perceives as an infringement of the rules of heritage preservation.

« I have nothing against Claire Tabouret or contemporary stained glass windows. There are some at Chartres Cathedral and I took part in the collection. But I am in favor of them when the old ones are destroyed or deteriorated. We cannot remove stained glass windows classified as a Historic Monument »underlines Stéphane Bern. The 43-year-old artist is responsible for creating six large bays in the southern chapels of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral. « Since 2015 and 2016, I have been fighting to save its pinnacles, its flying buttresses. We are going to redo them as well as all the buttresses of the vault. We will take care of the exterior and the square. I plead for a museum of the work, already prefigured by Charles Personnaz, to tell the behind the scenes, the works, or to exhibit the miraculously found rooster. The money would be better used in contemporary stained glass windows instead of those by Viollet-Le-Duc. But hey, it’s a wish of the president. So what the president wants, God wants, I have the impression ! »

“There will be appeals”

The charge against the Élysée is all the stronger as Stéphane Bern has long been close to Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron. The president even designated the facilitator « Mr. Heritage » in 2017, tasking him with advancing issues or sponsoring the Heritage Mission, one of the main cultural policies of the first five-year term. But those days seem to be over. « The president, I spend my time saying what I think – and not only good things – about his decisions… He has every reason to be angry with me. I don’t know if that’s the case », entrusts Stéphane Bern to West France.

« Why does the State free itself from the rules it imposes on others? »questions the host. « Just because the president wants it? The National Heritage and Architecture Commission voted unanimously against. Opposing this, with the approval of the Minister of Culture, means that there will be recourse. » In December 2023, Didier Rykner, director of The Art Tribunelaunched a petition for the conservation of Viollet-le-Duc’s stained glass windows at Notre-Dame. It now has more than 250,000 signatories.

“Quarrels from another age”

In response to these criticisms, the Élysée explained again on Monday that the project for new stained glass windows for Notre-Dame de Paris is not the sole decision of Emmanuel Macron but is « worn jointly » by the diocese and the Presidency of the Republic. For her part, the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati assured this Monday that “the admirable and collective effort which enabled the rebirth of Notre Dame should not be tainted by quarrels from another age between “ancients” and “moderns””. And continue, on X: “It is in this spirit that President Emmanuel Macron wished to respond favorably to the request of Laurent Ulrich, Archbishop of Paris, to install contemporary stained glass windows in this location of the cathedral.”

Stéphane Bern also returned to Rachida Dati’s wish, revealed in Le Figaro to make entry to Notre-Dame chargeable. Although he had been favorable to this idea, he finally reconsidered his position: « I consider that anyone who wants to enter Notre-Dame must be able to (…) You know what the Church confessed to me ? Basically, they are not against the fact that people pay, but against the fact that people pay to the State. Another example : who will benefit from the income from the stores ? It is the Church. I hope it will return something to the State, which owns the cathedral. Because the State is us. »

 

« Basically, they are not against the fact that people pay, but against the fact that people pay to the State. »

Stéphane Bern at Ouest France.

For seven years, the presenter of « History Secrets » launched the heritage lottery, which contributes to saving French monuments in danger. Since its launch, it has helped 950 sites by mobilizing more than 280 million euros. It now offers « iron out all the exemptions that exist on financing. We find 850 million for Notre-Dame de Paris, and I cannot find the first 85 euros for any small country church, while they are collapsing one after the other. Is this normal when they are as old as Notre-Dame? We stand firm on the law of 1905, but no one respects it »he castigates.