Rheims Cathedral (Part Two)

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unless otherwise accredited.

Rheims Cathedral at night.

Photo taken August 2009 by Jayanta Sen.

Unusually, the names of the cathedral's original architects are known. A labyrinth built into the floor of the nave at the time of construction, or shortly after, (similar to examples at Chartres and Amiens) included the names of four master masons (Jean d'Orbais, Jean-Le-Loup, Gaucher de Reims and Bernard de Soissons) and the number of years they worked there, though art historians still disagree over who was responsible for which parts of the building.

The labyrinth itself was destroyed in 1779, but its details and inscriptions are known from 18th-Century drawings. The clear association here between a labyrinth and master masons adds weight to the argument that such patterns were an allusion to the emerging status of the architect (through their association with the mythical artificer Daedalus, who built the Labyrinth of King Minos). 

Die Kathedrale von Reims by Domenico Quaglio (1787-1837).

English: Domenico Quaglio (1787-1837): The Cathedral of Reims.

Français : Domenico Quaglio (1787-1837): Cathédrale de Reims.

Italiano: Domenico Quaglio (1787-1837): La cattedrale di Reims.

The cathedral also contains further evidence of the rising status of the architect in the tomb of Huges Liberger (died 1268, architect of the now-destroyed Reims church of St-Nicaise). Not only is he given the honour of an engraved slab, he is shown holding a miniature model of his church (an honour formerly reserved for noble donors) and wearing the academic garb befitting an intellectual.

The towers, 81 m tall (approx. 267 ft), were originally designed to rise 120 m (approximately 394 ft). The South tower holds just two great bells; one of them, named “Charlotte” by Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine in 1570, weighs more than 10,000 kg (about 11 tons).

During the Hundred Years' War, the cathedral was under siege by the English from 1359 to 1360.

Exterior view of the Chevet of Rheims Cathedral

(Vue du chevet de la cathédrale de Reims).

Photo taken March 2007 by Vassil.

In 1875, the French National Assembly voted £80,000 for repairs of the façade and balustrades. The façade is the finest portion of the building, and one of the great masterpieces of the Middle Ages.

German shellfire, during the opening engagements of the First World War on 20 September 1914, burned, damaged and destroyed important parts of the cathedral. Scaffolding around the North Tower caught fire, spreading the blaze to all parts of the carpentry superstructure. 

The lead of the roofs melted and poured through the stone gargoyles, destroying in turn the bishop's palace. Restoration work began in 1919, under the direction of Henri Deneux, a native of Reims and chief architect of the Monuments Historiques; the cathedral was fully reopened in 1938, thanks in part to financial support from the Rockefellers, but work has been steadily going on since.

PART THREE FOLLOWS