Sedgwick
Notre-Dame-de-Paris rises from the ashes
In April 2019, the day after the spectacular fire at Notre-Dame-de-Paris, Sedgwick was asked by an insurer to cover part of the loss, linked to the cathedral’s treasury. Unlike the building itself, which is the property of the French state, it is the Diocese that manages this heritage of almost 1,000 objects and works of art, preserved in the building and therefore directly impacted by the fire.
The shock of entering Notre-Dame
The first difficulty in this claim was access to the site. Until the perimeter had been fully secured, no outsider could enter the cathedral.
A few days later, it was still a shock to enter the building. First of all, the light is unusual. As the roof was pierced in three places, Notre-Dame appears in a flood of light directly from above, without its traditionally dark side after 850 years of exposure to the fumes of candles, incense, etc.
A second surprise: the walls are white. Where a burnt-out site is covered in soot and blackened by fire, the stone in the building was of a light shade. The explanation is quite simple: the firefighters literally bombarded the building with their water hoses, cleaning the cathedral’s walls.
Finally, amidst the debris stands an intact Renaissance statue, a white marble Pièta.
A conservation mission under specific conditions
As in other, less emblematic disasters, the mission was to extract the works, decontaminate and clean them, then conserve them. Part of the treasury had been evacuated to the Hôtel de Ville, but some was still there a week after the fire. The availability of a precise inventory of the nearly 1,000 works involved will greatly facilitate Sedgwick’s intervention.
The appraisal mission was to last five months, in consultation with several parties, including the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles (DRAC) and the French Ministry of Culture.
Decisions had to be taken immediately on transporting the works, where they would be stored and how they would be insured. Normally, the works would take five years to complete, so part of the mission was to make sure they would be safe during this period.
Sedgwick was asked to make recommendations concerning all these immediate actions, and in particular the conditions under which the works were packed and transported, restored and protected.
With regard to safety, it’s important to understand that the Treasure Room was located away from the center of the building, on its side, and had a wooden door. It was not overly damp, unlike other places where the floor was soggy. But there was bound to be a high level of hydrometry. The old choir organ hadn’t burned down, but its wooden case, listed as a Monument Historique, was waterlogged. To restore it, including part of its wooden pipes, the question of whether to do it in situ, in the middle of an open-air building site, or in another location by dismantling it, was an acute one. The involvement of a specialist organ builder enabled us to draw up precise estimates so that we could move on to a more operational phase once the amount of compensation had been fixed.
Decontaminating and restoring works of art
As with the packing, the steps to be taken depended on the nature of the object, and in particular its material: wood, metal, etc. do not react in the same way to humidity, soot or the presence of lead, for example.
On all the metal objects, which made up 80% of the Treasure, a fine brush and a vacuum system did most of the work, in sterile chambers and in workshops specifically equipped for this type of restoration. The works were then stored at the Louvre, where they were partially exhibited before being returned to the Treasury for the re-opening of Notre-Dame.
A human context to be taken care of
In addition to media pressure, this claim also took on a specific aspect due to the emotional charge and trauma suffered by the people in charge of the Treasury. These people had lost their place of work, their place of worship, and they had failed, albeit unwittingly, in their mission to preserve and pass on the heritage they were in charge of. Reassuring them and responding to their concerns were essential to the loss adjusting mission. To illustrate this point, they kept mentioning the ambo[1], which had been crushed, as had the choirmaster.
This wooden dais was of no particular heritage interest, but taking into account the trauma this loss represented enabled the policyholders to feel listened to and supported at this difficult time.
After managing and monitoring this disaster, seeing Notre-Dame-de-Paris reopen and welcome back its faithful and visitors is a particularly emotional moment for those who intervened in such an extraordinary context.Trusted by major operators in France and all over the world, our loss adjustors and fine art experts have already managed many critical and sensitive contexts. To find out more about our solutions, visit our website here.
[1] Podium or raised lectern placed at the entrance to the choir of a church. The Word of God is proclaimed from the ambo. It is also used for preaching.
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