Various objects created for Notre-Dame are true works of art, crafted from precious materials by highly talented goldsmiths and artisans.
Reliquaries
From the origins of Christianity, the bodies of martyrs and founding saints have been venerated. This reached its peak in the Middle Ages with the rise of pilgrimages. Reliquaries house the bodily remains of a saint or an object sanctified by contact with them. They are crafted by goldsmiths. The 19th-century reliquaries reproduce the forms, styles, and decorations of earlier periods. Notre-Dame’s collection illustrates this variety: reliquaries shaped like medieval chests, crosses characteristic of Limoges enamelwork from the Middle Ages, cylindrical reliquaries that make the relic visible, or topical reliquaries that adopt the form of the relic (e.g., a skull).
Reliquary of the Cross of Saint-Claude
King René of the Celestine Convent in Avignon offered the relic of the Cross of Saint-Claude in the 15th century. It was authenticated in 1895. This Gothic-style reliquary, created based on designs by architect Jules Astruc, received acclaim at the 1900 Exposition Universelle.
Monstrance of Sainte-Geneviève
A liturgical object used to display a consecrated host to the faithful, the monstrance is typically placed on the altar. This one comes from the former church of the same name, now the Panthéon, and joined the collection in 1894.
20th Century Monstrance
In 1949, on the 500th anniversary of their guild, Parisian goldsmiths offered a May to Notre-Dame. To continue the old tradition of their guild, they created a silver and gilt silver monstrance. The Virgin presents the consecrated host to the faithful, placed in the lunette.
Lamp at Notre-Dame
Devotees donated this lamp in 1941 to perpetuate a tradition of devotion to the Virgin established in 1357. It is placed at the foot of the statue of Our Lady. Created based on designs by the stained-glass artist J. Le Chevallier, it replaced the lamp offered in 1605 by the Aldermen of Paris and destroyed during the Revolution.
Objects Designed by Viollet-le-Duc
In his 19th-century restoration program for the cathedral, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc included the design of sculptures and liturgical objects. Some objects date from this period.
Monstrance
Considered a masterpiece of goldsmith work, its neo-Gothic decoration won wide acclaim at the 1867 Exposition Universelle.
Reliquary of the Crown of Thorns
Goldsmith Cahier created this reliquary, commissioned by the Chapter of Notre-Dame to replace the one from 1806. The neo-Gothic style is inspired by the medieval reliquary of the Sainte-Chapelle, lost during the Revolution. Maurice Poussielgue-Rusand executed it in 1896 based on Viollet-le-Duc’s design. Geoffroy-Dechaume sculpted the figures, and Villemot crafted the ornaments. The openwork arches allow a view of the relic enclosed in a rock crystal crown. Nine chimeras support the first tier, adorned with filigree scrolls and precious stones. Saint Helena holds the cross, and Saint Louis holds the crown. Niches house the twelve apostles under turreted canopies. Fleur-de-lis, enriched with scrolls and precious stones, crown the whole.
Lectern
The grand lectern is a masterpiece of woodwork. The tetramorph (symbols of the four evangelists) and the twelve apostles accompany a stylized vegetal decor.
