Of Bricks & Light: Destruction/Preservation

 

Edouard-Denis Baldus (France, 1813-1882): Notre-Dame with Scaffold. Waxed salt print, 8-1/4″ x 11″,circa 1859.

 

Nearly all of the statues have been returned to the Gallery of the Kings by this point in the restoration of the Cathedral. Baldus exhibited photographs of Notre-Dame as early as 1854. Around 1858 he produced a large-format view from a perspective virtually identical to the image shown here, but showing no trace of the construction work.

It therefore seems likely that Baldus deliberately chose to re-photograph the Cathedral in order to document the restoration work in progress. And that suggests this photograph was created with the historical record, rather than the tourist trade, in mind.