Studia Gilsoniana (Dec 2022)
Vandalisme révolutionnaire et patrimoine
Abstract
Prepared by other iconoclasms, French revolutionary vandalism spared nothing and inspired the destruction of successive revolutions throughout the world. The contradiction lies in the fact that, at the same time, the actors of this drama were developing the idea of heritage that is still prevalent in our country today. There was no shortage of decrees and laws, most of which had no effect. Two prominent examples are briefly discussed here: the desecration of the royal basilica of Saint-Denis and the fate of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. The powerlessness of a few men who were aware of the tragedy unfolding before them shows how the machine that mercilessly crushed human beings was also particularly effective in erasing the traces and roots of a two-thousand-year-old culture founded on God and the King.
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