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Notre-Dame, where eternity overwhelms
The cathedral as its builders intended, "Gothic" architecture, the enigma of the esplanade... & modern surprises
- We begin with keys to deciphering Gothic cathedrals as a whole...
- ...and continue with what makes Notre-Dame unique
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 - "Exorcism", by Jean Fouquet, toward 1485
We start with the towers. As well, notice that houses crowd up to the façade (though that was true for all cathedrals). |
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- Then we bring up an enigma: Why build an immense esplanade (toward 1860), which makes the cathedral seem relatively small?
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•Tourism that questions
 - Now
Don't look at the cathedral from the end of the esplanade, which makes it less imposing.
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 - Prior to the esplanade
Go right up to the façade, as houses obliged medieval people to do. Peer up, and the colossal edifice will remind you of eternity - as it was meant to.
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•The conventional explanation for the esplanade: "It brings in light and air and allows viewing the detail." But - if you were leading the governemnt, would those have been your priorities after a revolution that that had just shaken the Continent? (in 1848)
•To decode it, we explore the edge of the river bank and show works of art.
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 - "The" Revolution, 1793
 - Barricades in 1848
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- Heartless-seeming sites of power: surprises
Most visitors (and most Parisians) overlook the 19th-century buildings of authority unless they are obliged to go there. But they are at the city's pulse and their ancestors are medieval. Surprises appear. One is a remarkable view. Bring identification...
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Drawing of medieval Paris / in V. Hugo, "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame", 1854 edition; paintings of revolution / schoolbooks
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