Preliminary Study prior to the restoration
of Saint-Augustin Church, Paris

Sponsor

City of Paris
Department of Cultural Affairs
Branch of artistic resources
Conservation of Civil and Religious Artworks for the City of Paris, (COARC)
70 rue des Archives 75004 Paris

Team

Curator : Myriam Simon
Restorers : Cecile Charpentier and Guillaume Benard-Tertrais

The Dome


Installation of safety nets

The hemispherical dome of Saint-Augustin Church measures 25m in diameter and its vertex is at 50m above the floor level. The dome is divided in 16 panels by the metallic rib design, which is typical of stone and cast-iron architecture of the Second French Empire.
Each panel is an oil on canvas painting, maroufled on plaster with decorative décor on plaster.

Due to a major water infiltration in 1999, many paintings were severely damaged. In 2003, Cecile Charpentier and Guillaume Bénard-Tertrais conducted a verification of their condition. The entire decor of the dome was examined in order to determine if a consolidation was necessary or if the paintings were in a more precarious state that they needed to be taken down in order to be restored.



In order conduct this investigation, Cecile Charpentier and Guillaume Bénard-Tertrais gained access to the nets previously installed and moved from one panel to the next in the dome using a rope and harness system. They collaborated with rock-climbers from the JFP Protection association who helped install the safety nets and trained the restorers for the acrobatic feat.


Cecile Charpentier and Guillaume Benard-Tertrais conducting tests on the maroufled painting.


Localisation of the alterations on one of the 16 panels

cecilecharpentier.fr