MONTMARTRE'S CHURCH OF THE SACRÉ CŒUR* AND THE EIFFEL TOWER, TWO GREAT MONUMENTS OF THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, EXPRESS THE FRENCH DIVIDE
*The Sacred Heart of Jesus: a religious observance that stresses penitence.
Republic, technology, optimism vs. Church, social order, reaction:
Richard Nahem
The right almost succeeds in demolishing the Tower, and the left would have torn down the church had it not been financed by private subscription.
-- The Sacre-Cœur of Montmartre by François Loyer,
" The sites of memory," ed. Pierre Nora, 1992 (in French)
" The sites of memory," ed. Pierre Nora, 1992 (in French)
The church, planned at the end of 1870,* turned out to be next to the site where the cannons had been deposited and the generals lynched.
*As atonement for the sins that had led to defeat. The right was prepared to surrender at a time when the poor were galvanized to fight in spite of their suffering.
Adapted from a poster sold on the web / zoom
The official reason for building it: "To save France that has deserved God's punishment for encouraging the spirit of revolution worldwide."
- A call for financing was launched soon after La Commune's defeat and funds came in immediately.
- By atoning for the "spirit of revolution" on the site where the upheaval began, the church affirmed the vengeance that army had set in motion.
Visitors see only a spectacular monument, though street art can evoke the real story:
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| Jan Wenner |
.JPG)
"What do you expect from heaven? Only bombs. Neither God nor master!"
# # #
The church's subtext: "Obey!"
- The height makes the edifice overwhelming and the white stone adds to its impact:
Claude Abron
Sole Parisian monument (the Arc of Triumph excepted) not built with the pale beige blocks of local quarries, its stones emit a chemical that whitens them when it rains.
- A giant Christ awes from the summit:
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| Claude Abron |
There is no other divinity of that size in Paris.
- Inside the church the giant image is still more overpowering, and the primary colors and gold have a billboard's impact:
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Christ in Glory by Luc Merson, toward 1885 / zoom |
Powerful donors to the church... and no poor
To identify the figures: Le Sacré Cœur de Paris, la mosaïque du choeur (in French)
# # #
Seen from the wealthy west, the church was distant and by underscoring the triumph over the anticlerical Communards, reassured...
Rue Solferino
Near the street that led to Versailles, in the aristocratic 7th district.
...but in the working-class east it reminded La Commune's survivors of the depth of their defeat:
View from the heights of Ménilmontant: imagine the impact when houses were low.
The Sacré-Cœur backs authority in this world
and implies that revolt will be punished in the next. It also gives Paris its spectacular skyline,
and is another link between
dread of insurrections and the city's beauty. |
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