Notre Dame’s uncovered tombs start to reveal their secrets
Two sarcophaguses unearthed in reconstruction work after 2019 fire identified as elite canon of cathedral and young cavalier
Two lead sarcophaguses discovered buried under the nave at Notre Dame Cathedral in what was described as an “extraordinary and emotional” find have begun giving up their secrets, French scientists announced on Friday.
The
first contains the remains of a high priest who died in 1710 after what
experts say appeared to be a sedentary life. The occupant of the second
has not yet been identified – and may never be – but is believed to be a
young, wealthy and privileged noble who could have lived as far back as
the 14th century.
The
tombs were uncovered as part of a cache of statues, sculptures and
fragments of the cathedral’s original 13th-century rood screen buried
under the floor of the transept crossing at the heart of the cathedral that was ravaged by fire in April 2019.
The
burial sites were described as of “remarkable scientific quality” and
were found after a preventive dig under the floor where heavy
scaffolding is to be erected to install the cathedral’s new spire.
While
most of the treasures were discovered barely 20cm (8in) under the
cathedral floor, a body-shaped lead sarcophagus was buried one metre
deep.
Once opened by specialists in Toulouse,
it was found to contain what was left of a man, probably in his 30s, who
researchers have named “Le Cavalier”, as his pelvic bones suggest he
was an experienced horseman.
There was no name
plaque on the coffin, which was moulded around the shape of the body,
and holes in the lead around the head meant the remains had been exposed
to the air and severe deterioration
Scientists are continuing to examine fragments of
cloth and plant material found inside the coffin and say he was embalmed
– a rare practice in the middle ages – and appears to have been buried
with a crown of flowers.
A brass plaque on the
second lead sarcophagus, also exposed to the air and water infiltration
from the historic flooding of the Seine in 1910, confirmed that it
contained the remains of Antoine de la Porte, the canon of Notre Dame Cathedral who died on Christmas Eve 1710 aged 83.
Eric
Crubézy, professor of biological anthropology at the University of
Toulouse III, who oversaw the cutting open of the coffins, said the two
men were clearly important in their respective eras to have been buried
in such prestigious tombs at the heart of the cathedral.
The
unknown cavalier would have been a member of “the elite” at the time of
his death to have been interred at the foot of the large cross on the
since-destroyed rood screen, an ornate partition between the chancel and
the nave that separated the clergy and choir from the congregation.
Most rood screens were removed from France’s Catholic churches during
the Counter-Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The young man had suffered a “chronic disease” that had destroyed most
of his teeth by the time he died, Crubézy told journalists. “He would
have had a difficult end of life.” The dead aristocrat also had a
deformation of the skull caused by wearing a headdress or headband as a
baby.
Christophe Besnier, who headed the scientific team
for the dig carried out by France’s national archaeological institute,
Inrap, told a press conference: “If the date of his death was around the
second half of the 16th century or early 17th century, we may be able
to identify him in the death register that we have. If it’s earlier than
that, we probably won’t ever know who he was.”
Unlike
the cavalier, de la Porte had “extraordinarily good teeth”, Crubézy
said. “They were remarkable for his age. We see this very rarely, but he
clearly cleaned his teeth and took care of them.”
De la Porte was rich, influential and not only commissioned several works of art that are now in the Louvre, including a painting by Jean Jouvenet entitled The Mass of Canon Antoine de la Porte,
but paid 10,000 livres – a small fortune at the time – for the
renovation of the choir of Notre Dame Cathedral. Part of the destroyed
rood screen was used in constructing his tomb.
After fire swept through the 850-year-old cathedral, one of Paris’s most symbolic and visited monuments, in April 2019, almost destroying the entire edifice, President Emmanuel Macron pledged to have it rebuilt and open for mass in five years.
The
Inrap team was called in to carry out a “preventive dig” under a
section of the cathedral floor between February and April before a 30
metre-high, 600-tonne scaffold was built to reconstruct the monument’s
spire. The archaeologists were given a strict timeframe and only a
specific area in which to carry out the excavation.
Dominique
Garcia, president of Inrap, reiterated that the human remains were not
“archaeological objects” and would be treated “with respect from
beginning to end” of the research before being returned to Paris for the culture ministry to decide what would happen to them.
