Paris. Partially damaged by a fire in 1844, Saint-Eustache had blackened walls in its side chapels which obscured the 17th century paintings and decorations. The work campaign dates back several years, as the rector, Father Pierre Vivarès, recalls, and began with the facades. In 2016, the south face was restored, followed, in 2024, by the classical-style western facade, remodeled by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in the 18th century. For this facade, the work cost around 10 million euros, part of which was matched by the City of Paris, as explained by Paul Percetti, responsible for patronage at the City of Paris. Over the last ten years, the municipality has committed 20 million euros to the work of Saint-Eustache, in particular through the Conservation of Religious and Civil Works of Art (Coarc). The chapels now benefit from the support of the World Monuments Fund and American patrons, reports Mathilde Augé, executive director of WMF France.
Rediscovery of original drapes
After the southern chapels and then Saint-Joseph, it is the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul chapel, to the north, which has just been restored with the support of the WMF and the City of Paris. This building has beautiful painted decorations dating from the 17th century partially covered with “repainted from the 19th centurye“, underlines Paul Percetti, and the restoration made it possible to “rediscover original draperies under the retouched paintings”. The lighting is also being renovated to highlight the decorations as well as a triptych on permanent display, the one created in 1990 by the American artist Keith Haring, who died of AIDS the same year. The Saint-Eustache parish was in fact in the 1990s one of the only ones to welcome AIDS patients and to celebrate funeral masses for those who died from it. “Saint-Vincent-de-Paul is linked to care, so it was logical to place the triptych in this chapel to remind us that there is no exception to the care given to others”explains Father Vivarès, who was already officiating in Saint-Eustache at the time. The triptych, dedicated to AIDS patients, was bequeathed by the artist to the City of Paris, which itself donated it to the church in 1996.
Keith Haring (1958-1990), The Life of Christbronze and white gold patina, Saint-Vincent-de-Paul chapel, Saint-Eustache Church, Paris.
“The restoration of the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul chapel coincides with the 30th anniversary of the donation, underlines Mathilde Augé. The church has several layers of memory that must be gradually restored and highlighted. » This is the objective of the new mediation, Plexiglas panels displaying texts in dark beige letters, “panels that fit better into the decor”according to the man of the Church.
In addition to the interest of its architecture and its chapels, the church is remarkable for the presence within it of several ancient works of art (Antoine Coysevox, Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, Tintoretto) and also contemporary works (Pascal Convert). Ultimately, all of this heritage will be restored, even if Mathilde Augé concedes that “the WMF is looking for patrons for the continuation of the work in the northern chapels”. Father Pierre Vivarès underlines that in parallel with the work the parish is engaging “a reflection on the management of church spaces to better harmonize them with social activities in Saint-Eustache”.
