A Renewed Notre Dame

Also: Aging in America, a survey of 20th-century fiction, the decline of the memoir, Mendelssohn’s piano trios, and more.

The restoration of Notre Dame in Paris is complete, and the result is stunning. Here’s Joseph Ataman at CNN with the story:

Restoring the historic monument to its former state has cost an estimated €700 million ($737 million), according to Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris, the public body headed by Jost which is responsible for the work. Overall, €846 million ($891 million) were raised in donations from 340,000 donors in 150 countries, with the extra funds used to restore other monuments.

Beyond that, there are the materials used in its rebuilding: The tallest oak felled was 27 meters tall (88 feet high), 1,300 cubic meters of stone were replaced, 8,000 organ pipes (belonging to France’s largest instrument) cleaned and retuned, 1,500 solid oak pews hewed – all the work of 2,000 dedicated artisans. The result of their labor is even more impressive.

A few steps beneath the cascading statues of the cathedral’s magnificent façade, dark gives way to light. The naked columns of the cathedral soar up to the ceiling; the walls, stripped of centuries of dust and grime, appear brand new.

Here are a few pictures of the interior before the fire and restoration:

Here are a few pictures of the restored (and cleaned) interior:

Check out more photos here and here. The church opens to the public on December 7.

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In other news, Anne Matthews reviews a new book on aging: “Americans used to train for aging and mortality. Mary Moody Emerson of Concord, Massachusetts, practiced death for decades, wearing her burial shroud by day, then climbing into a coffin-shaped bed. Her nephew Ralph Waldo opened tombs to watch decay conquer the bodies he loved: his young first wife, his five-year-old son. In family plots everywhere, gravestones cautioned: As I am now, so you must be. Contemporary America segregates debility and death, and it’s costing us, body and soul, writes Duke University historian James Chappel.”