La Vierge à l’ Enfant adossée au pilier sud-est du transept, est la statue la plus connue des trente-sept représentations de la Vierge que compte Notre-Dame de Paris.
Comme Paul Claudel le jour de Noël de l’année 1886, vous pouvez écouter le Magnificat du Ton Pérégrin chanté par le choeur d’enfants de la Maîtrise de la cathédrale, et alterné avec le grand orgue de Notre-Dame.
Sculptée au milieu du XIV éme siècle la statue provient de la Chapelle Saint-Aignan située dans l’ancien cloître des Chanoines sur l’ Ile de la Cité.
Transférée à Notre-Dame en 1818, elle fût d’abord placée au trumeau du Portail de la Vierge en remplacement de la Vierge du XIIIe siècle abattue en 1793.
L’architecte Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (27 janvier 1814-17 septembre 1879).
C’est en 1855, au cours de la campagne de restauration de Viollet-le-Duc, que la statue fut installée à son emplacement actuel, emplacement historique puisque dès la fin du XIIe siècle, un autel à la Vierge était élevé au même endroit.
« Longue, élégante, assez fortement hanchée, elle porte sur son bras l’Enfant Jésus qui joue avec la boucle de son manteau dont les larges plis retombent avec grâce ; une couronne couvre sa tête », commente Marcel Aubert en 1950.
Elle est ainsi reine et mère. Dans la main droite, elle tient un lys, symbole de pureté, tandis que l’Enfant porte un globe, symbole d’universalité.
Paul Louis Charles Claudel (6 août 1838- 23 février 1955) dramaturge et poète.
C’est auprès de cette statue que Paul Claudel se convertit au catholicisme, religion de son enfance, en assistant en curieux aux vêpres à Notre-Dame de Paris le 25 décembre 1886, jour de Noël.
« J’étais debout, près du deuxième pilier, à droite, du côté de la sacristie. Les enfants de la maîtrise étaient en train de chanter ce que je sus plus tard être le Magnificat. En un instant mon cœur fut touché et je crus ».
Le nettoyage réalisé en 2004 a permis de retrouver sur cette statue de nombreuses traces de polychromie médiévale.
La Vierge à l’Enfant dite Notre Dame de Paris ou Vierge du pilier.
Bonsoir Gérard,
Un parfum de sacré, mêlant charme des roses et enivrante pureté des lys, flotte sur votre article. La Vierge est reine au coeur de la Cité, la Dame qui fut Noire et qui vint par les eaux tourmentées du fleuve, la Déesse des Anciens Mondes qui n’a jamais cessé de répandre sa force et sa douceur sur les lieux hautement spirituels et sur chacun de ses « enfants », croyants ou non.
Cette Vierge du Pilier rayonne sous votre plume, point d’ancrage de célèbres vocations, confidente des émotions de ceux qui passent… Merci pour ce très bel article et pour votre gentillesse. Je vous souhaite une très agréable soirée et de belles fêtes de Pâques, chocolatées à souhait!!! C’est la gourmande en moi qui s’exprime…
Grosses bises
Cendrine
bonsoir Cendrine,
cette Vierge à l’Enfant est très émouvante mais aussi très intrigante. La façon dont elle regarde son fils soulève bien des interrogations : sourire d’une mère attendrie, regard d’une mère inquiète présageant les pleurs à venir ….?
merci pour ce chaleureux et instructif commentaire.
Je vous souhaite également joyeuse Pâques. Je partage avec vous le même vice …non la même qualité que vous, à savoir la gourmandise !!!!
bises
gérard
Bonsoir Gérard,
Ah, le chocolat est un divin élixir et céder à ses voluptueux élans est si doux et délicieux…
Vous avez raison pour le regard de cette vierge, il nous attire vers un ailleurs d’interrogations, il nous envoûte par sa profondeur et sa magie, il nous intrigue et nous happe vers des mondes sacrés qui deviennent, de temps à autre, palpables dans la réalité.
Je vous souhaite une excellente soirée ainsi qu’à votre épouse.
Grosses bises, amitiés
Cendrine
Bonjour,
Je suis archéologue et dans le cadre d’un rapport de fouille archéologique (à but non lucratif, rapport et non pas publication), je souhaite utiliser votre photo de La Vierge à l’Enfant dite Notre Dame de Paris ou Vierge du pilier. Il s’agit de montrer un exemple de Vierge à l’enfant du 14e s.
M’autorisez-vous cet emprunt? Pouvez-vous, dans ce cas, me préciser les références à indiquer en accompagnement du cliché?
je vous réponds par mail
gb
Bonjour,
Merci pour cet article.
Cependant j’ai un petite question : êtes-vous sûr que ce que tient l’enfant Jésus dans sa main est bien un globe ?
Si la statue fut sculptée eu XIVe, je doute qu’une sphère ne représente la Terre et en soit un symbole d’université.
De ce que j’ai appris d’un conférencier de la cathédrale, il s’agirait d’une grenade, symbole d’amour.
Merci pour votre réponse.
Bien à vous,
Matthieu
Réponse par mail le 12.08.2017
Je ne suis pas du tout spécialiste de statuaire médiévale mais la grenade est un symbole religieux très ancien, la représentation de la Vierge à la grenade sera reprise par Botticelli (et Philippino Lippi) et le symbole de la grenade abondamment commenté : symbole de l’amour, de la vie, de l’union du divin et de l’humain, de la Passion, de l’unité des membres de l’Église et d’autres encore.
En revanche, j’aimerais savoir à partir de quelle époque l’art chrétien représente le monde comme une sphère surmontée d’une croix. La forme circulaire existe dans des images anciennes de la création mais non le globe, et encore moins le globe surmonté de la croix.
Bonjour
Je suis très intrigué par le sourire de la Vierge. Selon l’angle sous lequel on la voit elle sourit ou elle est sérieuse voire un peu triste. Elle médite la prophétie de Syméon un glaive te transpercera le coeur
Merci pour vos beaux commentaires
Que Dieu est miséricordieux, Notre-Dame du pilier a tenu bon malgré l’incendie, l’eau, les débris de la flèche qui se sont jetés à ses pieds, ce 15 avril 2019, date historique où le feu a failli ravagé toute la cathédrale de 850 ans! J’étais très inquiet pour cette statue particulièrement, car je la trouve singulièrement belle. Je comprends que Claudel se soit converti en la contemplant! Vierge Marie, veille sur nous!
Je partage votre émotion par rapport à Notre-Dame du pilier. Je l’ai souvent admiré et j’espère avoir encore l’occasion de le faire …
Tout le temps où la cathédrale a brulé, je n’ai fait que penser à cette statue que j’aime tant, heureusement elle est intacte
Moi également …. Je l’ai souvent prise en photo …. mais je ne les retrouve pas. Savez-vous où je pourrais me la procurer ? Je l’aime tant … J’habite en province … Merci de tout coeur.
vous pouvez prendre celles de cet article si vous le désirez.
gérard
J’espère qu’on pourra la revoir assez vite, même dans un autre lieu pendant le temps des travaux
Comme Marie-Claude, je n’ai pensé qu’à elle car c’est elle, Notre-Dame… J’ai pleuré de joie en l’apercevant au milieu des décombres mais peut-on savoir si elle a souffert, de l’eau et du feu, et où elle se trouve actuellement ? La charpente et la flèche pourront être reconstruites mais sa perte eût été irréparable…
Apparemment elle est heureusement intacte ! je crois qu’elle se trouve au Louvre avec les autres oeuvres.
Il est envisagé de faire une exposition de tous ces chefs d’oeuvre …… il va falloir patienter car ça prendra surement du temps .
A part les photos que l’on peut trouver, existe-t-il des représentations en taille réduite, par exemple 12 à 20 cm ?
The Fiery Rooster, ‘les SDF’ from the Parisien street
In Paris, a spontaneous religious procession with the singing of songs and litanies passed in the evening of April 16, 2019 from Saint Sulpice to the square in front of the Notre-Dame cathedral, no longer roofed and probably inaccessible to the faithful for a long time. The distance is insignificant (1500 m), but the significance of this act of piety is great: the faithful showed that it is one and the same Fire. If someone read my earlier text about the fire of Saint Sulpice, he already knows that this Fire refers to the Paraclete. God speaks to His children constantly, also with their free deeds. Why do I say that participants in the procession have combined two fires into one Fire? The first fire, at Saint Sulpice, broke out on March 17 on Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, which is a commemoration of the return to the worship of Holy Icons in Byzantium, which was proclaimed by Empress Theodora on the first Sunday of Lent AD843. The sacredness of this empress, however, is celebrated on 11 February, and the heart of a Roman Catholic is happier at that date: the Immaculate Conception Herself chose this day for Her first apparition at the foot of Pyrenees in 1858. The Madonna invariably appeared to the poor Bernadette in the porphyry grotto at Lourdes, to announce the birth of the porphyrogenet – the emperor, or the king of kings, and therefore the sovereign Queen of Heaven and Earth was assisted by the Roman empress Theodora, or the empress of the ‘Divine Gift’, in French ‘Dieudonne’. The French monarchy knows one ‘Dieudonne’ … yes, this is the nickname of Louis XIV, the Sun King. And so we have already entered the trail of not some fire, but of the sun. Saint Bernadette, with her whole person, illustrated the actions of the Immaculate Virgin in front of faihtful bystanders’: she smeared her face in the mud of this pig’s den under the Massabielle rock, and ate the herb to show that she was accompanying a prodigal son – admittedly the ruler of all the inhabited earth, but who lost his mind because of pride – she became like this pig Nebuchadnezzar; the flame of the candle engulfed the girl’s hand without burning the skin, because it’s all about the Fire, who is a person, not an element; wade in Gave de Pau, because its waters are like ‘aqua natalis’: after all the city of Pau (in the course of this river below Lourdes) is the birthplace of the great convert, the first Bourbon on the throne of France, Henry IV the King! And so you could quote various details until the final apparition of July 16th (1858): the grotto was then barricaded by the police (= no access to the Church, as now Notre Dame de Paris), but Bernadette nevertheless saw the Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and She was more beautiful than ever before … because in Her imagination She sees this craved Gardener of Her garden, that Son-Man, whom She gives birth as the Holy Church Our Mother, Her chosen Spouse, the Great Monarch, God’s gift for the last days – ‘Dieudonne’ par excellence.
Romanian Sabina waited for her beloved spouse, Saint Alexis, 34 years and she saw him only on catafalque, and the Virgin Mary almost 2000 years, or … 2 days (because a thousand years with God is like one day) and She will receive him alive – He has so much to do here on earth.
The procession of Parisians celebrated Saint Bernadette on the anniversary of her 140th birthday for Heaven (on April 16, 1879), when the Fire came down from above into the Church and revealed the starry sky over She. So we have a French woman who reminded us of the meaning of the Lourdes’ apparitions, but she is accompanied by a Frenchman … Saint Benedict Joseph Labre. What would this God’s Fool say to us, this complete madman, who consumed his young life as a vagrant in Europe, or rather on a pilgrimage around the Marian sanctuaries. This Saint Beggar has spent the last 5 years in the ruins of the Roman Coliseum, until one day he fainted on the threshold of Santa Maria ai Monti and soon died, on Holy Wednesday, April 16, 1783, as befits the Gallic Rooster in the butcher’s cell. He consciously lived on the style of Saint Alexis and, like him, he went to Heaven via Rome, and now he is – attention, attention – the patron of SDF (in French: ‘sans domicille fixe’) or homeless.
This Roman Rooster found himself on Holy Tuesday, April 16 (2019) on the Paris street near the cathedral: because of the great fire he flew from the Notre-Dame spire on the eve of the annual memory of his namesake Benedict Joseph. This Holy SDF found himself, which is also played by the voice of ‘Benedict-Joseph’ bell on the tower of the Notre Dame cathedral. There is an inscription on it « and dwelt among us », and he repeats the ‘Etienne’/’Stephan’ bell with inscription: « and the Word was made flesh. » Stephan means ‘Wreath’ or simply ‘Crown’, and ‘Benedict-Joseph (Labre)’ – ‘Blessed God will Multiply (Good)’ (probable etymology of the surname Labre = Good), I do not have to add that it is about the Great Monarch of the end times. Should it be some SDF?!
So, from Saint Sulpice, Saint Alexius (SDF), Theodora the Empress of March 17, we went with Saints Benedict-Joseph (SDF) and Saint Bernadette on April 16, and through her to Notre Dame the Empress of Heaven in Her splendid palace on the Cite island. Where, however, is the fire on the spire and roof on April 15th night till morning 16th? How did this happen?
First, the construction brothers (masons) founded a steel cage on Notre Dame built on the plan of the Cross. Then they removed 12 Apostles and four Evangelists from the spire. They did it on April 11 (when Mercury reached the largest western elongation), on commeration of Saint Stanislaus Bishop Martyr, patron of the Polish Crown, and Saint Gemma Galgani – a real jewel in the Crown of the King of the Kings of Jesus Christ. [What connects Stanislaus from Cracow and Gemma from Lucca: their native colors – a white and red flag.] By removing 12 Apostles, they took out the foundation of the Church symbolized by the Cross crowning the spire of Notre Dame de Paris. There was also Rooster sitting on this Cross, an ancestral bird of the Gauls. In addition to the 12 Apostles, the builders also removed the allegories of the four Evangelists. Here, however they – unfortunately to those Masons, and luckily to Gaul – did not notice something: they took 16 figures, and yet 2 Evangelists are also Apostles. In fact, 14 persons were taken of and the figures were 16. The bill does not match. Two men of this group had to remain. Who two? Those who performed in a double role: Matthew and John became like ghost at the base of the spire, the Cross and the Rooster. The names of Matthew and John are translated as ‘God’s Gift’ and ‘God’s Grace’. What’s more, they are symbolized by Angel and Eagle, and therefore winged beings. Can a heavily-flying Rooster of the Gauls complain about the help that God gives him in His Providence, shortly before that conflagration! Get the wings of the Angel and the Great Eagle to break free from deadly oppression and land safely in the green? Do you need something more? The Rooster landed safely in the green bringing the relics of the Thorn from the Crown of the Savior (Who suffered this for the sins of our mind), Saint Dionysius (and he brings the Church’ Head, because the head of every bishop is Vicar of Jesus Christ) and Saint Genevieve the Parisian, who arranged a nice flat for the First Bishop of Paris.
Who caused the fire? Another SDF again? Whoever it would be, whether he did it deliberately or unintentionally, whether a Frenchman, foreigner, freemason or a professional, is definitely some SDF, because each of us, mortals, belongs to the category ‘sans domicille fixe’. We do not have a permanent place here on earth – we are waiting for death, judgement, Heaven or hell. Only after death we gain the status of a permanent, eternal resident of Heaven, or, unfortunately, hell.
The fire flared at the base of the spire around 6:50 in the afternoon. And so the spire turned into a burning torch, an inverted torch: its handle (grip) was the Cross that held the Rooster. Because the bonfire formed at the intersection of the transept and the main nave, so the fire came out of the Cross and simultaneously entered the Church from above. The roof was an obstacle, it must have burned away so that the Fire from Heaven could enter the interior of the Church. For what? There has been darkness in the Catholic Church for centuries, so in order to make it again the Light of the world, the Almighty God sends a fire to the Church, called ‘God’s Gift of God’s Grace’, for these two Apostles and Evangelists, Matthew and John, have been on duty at the torch’s head. The whole Church (digression: I still use physical images in this analysis, so if someone would like to facilitate the reception of this text, let them start with reading to the mind as many photos from the scene as possible or displaying them on a regular basis), so …
When the spire collapsed, the Fire was thrown on this earthly Church and the whole Church – looking from the bird’s eye – was marked by the sign of the Fiery Cross. France froze at that sight and cried, because it was as if their ancestral bird, Rooster, and with him all Gallia was to go past the flames. This is the Fire that our Lord Jesus Christ said about: « I have come to throw fire on the earth, and how I long for it to burn. » This Fire is ‘God’s Gift’ or ‘Dieudonne’. Louis XIV? No. It is the Sun King, the Great Monarch of the end times, the same as the Paraclete. This Fire burns with Notre Dame together. It can not be otherwise, after all it is Her Son-Man, through whom She suffered so much in the pains of childbearing, as Sancta Ecclesia Mater Nostra. But finally She gave birth to Him – Her Spouse! Has become. He is already inside the Church on earth. The masons missed the case: they were trying to close Notre Dame in a steel cage, and here, through this very trap (oh, happy fault), the Fire-Paraclete entered the belligerent Church on earth. It was necessary to pierce the vault of the temple so that the Fire could enter the interior. He landed at the edge of the presbytery. And there in the dark interior you could see Notre Dame with the Body of Jesus Christ already taken off the Cross and absorbed in perpetual adoration Her eldest son, King Louis ‘the Just’ XIII in the act of offering Her Crown of France, and also his son, Louis XIV ‘the Sun King’ renewing his father’s famous vow. Nice perspective, but these ruins, smudged logs, ashes, rubble, water finally. Was it necessary? And was the fire from Heaven needed by Sodom? Was there any significant trace left of this city? Now, when the Vatican has turned into a new Sodom, how can it avoid the Fire? A bit of a ruin, standing walls – the Church will survive, unlike the infamous pentapolis in Palestine. That’s why John (the Evangelist) was involved in this Parisian case, with the nickname ‘the Son of Thunder’ given to him by the Savior himself. The Gospel [Luke 9:54] testifies that this Son of Thunder can use God’s given power: « Lord; if you like, we will say that the fire will come down from heaven and consume them. » The Fire from above entered Notre Dame with the power of the Beloved Disciple John, so the Paraclete will also have power over this God’s plague.
When the Fire-Paraclete entered the Church, he unveiled a starry sky: two windows were opened in the Notre-Dame’ vault (two, because ‘Two Candlesticks’ of the Apocalypse), through which one can now see the history of Salvation recorded in the constellations. What could we see through them by popping our heads, like someone who found himself in a deep well? He would have wandered this memorable night at the zenith (it would be good to ask about the details of the court astronomers, Messier and Cassini) the Little King, Leo Minor. First, the Little, because it is God’s Child, Son of Jesus Christ, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and of the Virgin Mother the Holy Church; Secondly, the Little, because it is someone who is easy to overlook, or even look away, just like when meeting an SDF.
Oh, France, you have SDF-class presidents, and you are surprised that God wanted to lead the Great Monarch of the end times out of You, out of your smallest sons. Have you forgotten that you are the Oldest Daughter of the Church, that You belong completely to Her, the Immaculate Conception, since your King Louis ‘the Just XIII’, on Feb. 10, 1638, entrusted to Her, the Divine Virgin, the Crown of France? Do not be surprised. You do not remember this anymore, but She, your rightful Queen, remembers You. Stop weeping, because it’s make your look foggy. Also, bear in mind that Louis XIV ordered the heaviest bell of Notre Dame and named it ‘Emmanuel’, as if announcing the weapon of the greatest caliber for the time of decisive battle with the eternal enemy. This sonorous colossus, as the only one of siblings, survived the turmoil of the revolution.
France, start asking God to reveal the Paraclete. See also more often in starry heaven over your head (strengthening your eyes with the verses of Psalm 19 (‘Coeli enarrant’), because it is for the marking of the seasons. Is this a good advice of an old gardener? No! It’s all about the time to do certain things that God, as the Lord of History, has in His agenda. He watches over you, France, Beloved daughter, and now He sends you the Lord and the Lady of All Nations to extrude You from the spider’s net and to comfort You after all the misfortunes that You have taken over your head.
April 18, 2019, Holy Thursday and the commemoration of Saint Marie of the Incarnation (Barbara Aurillot *)
* What this poor widow, with her six children, fought against the King Henry IV de Bourbon to wake up the Catholic Spirit in him!
P.S.
And You, France, who wear the white banner of the Maid of Orleans like a coat, have you noticed that on May 30, 2019, the Ascension of the Lord, 588 years will pass, since La Pucelle of Domrémy, lit by fire in the Rouen market, has risen straight to Heaven?
‘5’ ‘8’ ‘8’ it’s ‘5’ ‘1’ ‘6’,
Do You know, France, what does ‘1’ ‘5’ ‘6’ mean to You?
So look: Mercury Jupiter Saturn!
You still can not see, so listen: ‘Fire the Emperor from David (House)’ comes to You, poor, bruised France!
Thy penance, France, comes to an end: again, You will recite prayers pleasing to God, enjoy croissants and coffee without fear that you will be attacked by that goofy girlie from Marseille, or You will be molested by a fool who thinks he is the new Jupiter.
Jirai tout A l’heure retrouver la vierge au pilier qui a repris sa place apres les travaux. Je confie toutes les aspirations de paix et de douce bienveillance sur nos vies que Notre Dame nous procure par sa grâce immaculée
Amen!
La Vierge au pilier, miraculeusement épargnée pendant l’incendie, après décontamination, est actuellement dans l’église Saint Germain l’Auxerrois
Quelque chose me dit qu’il s’agit là d’un miracle.
En effet, cette vierge n’a pas souffert de ce gigantesque incendie…..
Je cherche à me procurer une statuette de cette vierge.
on est heureux de la voir à Saint Germain l’Auxerrois !
Merci vierge Marie d’avoir exaucé le plus cher de mes voeux
Qui peut me dire qqch sur le chien (?) sculpté sur la base de la statue?