French figurative painter Claire Tabouret has been awarded the commission to create new stained glass windows for Notre-Dame Cathedral, replacing 19th-century works by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Jean-Baptiste Lassus that survived the 2019 fire. Her designs, featuring multiethnic, multigenerational worshipers during Pentecost, were unveiled in the exhibition "Claire Tabouret: In a Single Breath" at the Grand Palais. The project, chosen by President Emmanuel Macron and Archbishop Laurent Ulrich from 110 candidates, has drawn criticism as an act of vanity and a possible violation of heritage guidelines, though Tabouret and Macron remain undeterred.
The controversy matters because it highlights enduring tensions between preservation and contemporary intervention in historic monuments, a debate central to cultural heritage policy. Tabouret's windows, produced by the historic Simon-Marq Storied Glass Studio, also raise questions about how societies balance reverence for the past with the desire for modern artistic expression, especially in a landmark as symbolically charged as Notre-Dame.