Chartres Cathedral has been under a staggering interior renovation for the last decade.
With every visit, some area within has been cordoned off with scaffolding, while artisans climb ladders to the very top to do the arduous work of peeling back centuries of dirt, smoke, age and ~ come to find ~ myth.
It is now done!
All scaffolding has been removed!
Baroque marble looks surreal but it’s not! It’s real!
The stone has been restored to its luminescent creme tones; no more grey blocking the light.
There is indeed a controversy simmering, because included in this restoration, was the renovation of the altar of the ‘Black Madonna’.
The myths created off Her title are having a time of it, as she is now returned to her original wood color — white.
You can find the latest from the New York Times, here
For me, personally, I’ve been a part of the process; watching the work occur ~ the artisans climb the scaffolding day after day, year after year, to reach the highest points within, working with chisels and spotlights, in Silence, while visitors walk below, not even realizing behind the fabric-enclosed scaffolds, teams of artists are passionately cleaning and returning Her to her original splendor.
Chartres Cathedral
Now, as the sun moves across the skies; the stained glass moves across the stone floor, the walls, in myriad shades of color — showing you an extraordinary play of light to witness and absorb.
It is breathtaking … Where Heaven and Earth meet: just as it was envisioned from the outset.
