The treasury of Notre-Dame. From its origins to Viollet-Le-Duc

Moved after the fire in the cathedral, the treasury of Notre-Dame de Paris is being kept in the Louvre until the building has been restored. Goldsmithery, precious cult objects or items of historic significance: the museum will exhibit these exceptional items to the public, from October 2023 until February 2024.

An unprecedented past to be discovered

Cathedrals’ most precious liturgical objects are kept safe in their Treasury. When Notre-Dame went up in flames, this treasury, miraculously preserved, was moved to safety in the Louvre.

Today, the museum invites you to come and discover Notre-Dame’s most valuable collection, in a new light. After the immersive Éternelle Notre-Dame experience, the cathedral continues to take you on a journey back in time throughout this extraordinary exhibition. Retrace the history of the treasury from before the Revolution, when it was entirely destroyed. Via inventories, illuminated manuscripts and historic records, reconnect with the past of Notre-Dame’s treasury. Some one hundred works will take you through the history of the treasury, from its early days to the Merovingian period, until its blossoming in the 19th century.

In the 19th century, renaissance of the treasury

From 1804, the treasury was rebuilt. New relics from the Sainte-Chapelle were indeed bequeathed to the cathedral: the Crown of thorns, as well as a fragment of the True Cross. Over the years that followed, Notre-Dame formed a new treasury around these relics. The architect Viollet-Le-Duc, who was in charge of the renovation works in 1850, designed new goldsmithery items. They were created by the greatest crasftpeople of the time to be added to Notre-Dame’s other treasures. These works, which once appeared in the cathedral’s reliquary, gave the treasury its reputation of French goldsmithery masterpiece. Clothes embroidered with gold, ostentatiously adorned with precious stones or which were used for imperial christenings…
These objects which gave the treasury its splendour will only be revealed to the public for a few months, before being returned to the cathedral.

Continue to explore art and History through Paris Region’s exhibitions.