We introduce our year with the story of the extraordinary journey of Notre-Dame de Paris.

Dr. Sandron, Director of Restoration for Notre-Dame Cathedral, begins the story in Gallo-Roman Lutetia, when a pagan temple stood on the future site of Notre-Dame, and tells of the site’s stunning transformation into a Christian sacred complex and ultimately a magnificent Gothic cathedral over the course of a millennium. Then, Dr. Lindsay Cook will provide an overview of Notre-Dame’s architectural history from the 13th to the 21st century. Her “biography” of the ever-changing sacred building will begin with the addition of some of the Gothic cathedral’s most emblematic features and conclude with the catastrophic fire of 2019 that nearly destroyed them. Along the way, she will situate Notre-Dame not only within the larger medieval world, but also within our own world today.

The book Notre Dame Cathedral: Nine Centuries of History by Dany Sandron & Andrew Tallon, translated by Lindsay Cook, will be available for sale with a signing by Dr. Lindsay Cook.

Presented by:

Dr. Dany Sandron, Director of Restoration, Notre-Dame, Prof, Sorbonne Université

Dr. Lindsay Cook, Department of Art History, Penn State University

Cosponsored by:

Program in Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Rice University

Presented at:

Hudspeth Auditorium, Rice University | Entrance No 8, at the intersection of University Blvd and Stockton Drive

Self-paid parking available in either the Moody Lot or West Lot 5

FREE ADMISSION

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Jean Fouquet, Hours of Étienne Chevalier, ca. 1452-1460, depicting the cathedral of Notre-Dame.