Despite the horror of the Notre Dame fire in 2019, which took hold of the middle of the cathedral, ravaging its grand spire and leaving much of its art with permanent damage, the disaster may have proved an (expensive) blessing in disguise. According to the Times, the cathedral is set to become ‘in a better state’ than it has been since the mid-19th century, with ‘150 years of dust’ being swept from its walls.
As the fire still blazed, French authorities received a staggering €846 million (approximately £739 million) in donations. With billionaire philanthropists rivaling one another to donation top spot (François-Henri Pinault’s gift of €100 million was soon eclipsed by Bernard Arnault’s €200 million), they were left with a generous budget to rebuild. It has been revealed that so far the project has cost an overall €700 million (£611 million), with the removal of ‘460 tonnes of lead dust’ coming in at an impressive €150 million (£131 million).
The steeple and spire of the landmark Notre-Dame Cathedral collapses as the cathedral is engulfed in flames in central Paris, 2019
GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/Getty Images
After the cathedral’s roof and upper walls were destroyed, the initial fire damage became a priority. The rebuilding of the structure was soon underway, but project managers then also noticed the extent of dirt covering its interior. Indeed, Jean-Michel Guilment, the French culture minister, describes seeing a statue inside being returned to its former whiteness as ‘quite spectacular’. In much the same way as one might be inspired to clean their house after fixing a kitchen cabinet, a domino effect of revamping is apparently underway at Notre Dame.
