Do you know the magnificent baroque Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis church? This church where Cardinal Richelieu celebrated the first mass on May 9, 1641. This church where Madame de Sévigné was baptized. This church of which Marc-Antoine Charpentier (yes, yes, the composer of the Te Deum which became the theme of ORTF Eurovision!) was the music master. This church to which Victor Hugo offered two holy water fonts on the occasion of his daughter's wedding.
Well, imagine that this church was… graffitied. But it was long before the time of graffiti artists and street art.
On a pillar, on the right side of the nave, we can read this astonishing inscription: “French Republic or death. “
It was long thought that it was the work of a revolutionary from 1789 before historians moved towards a later date: 1871, which suggests that it was the act of a communard.
Regardless, all attempts to erase this testimony from history have failed.
We can see: the stone was rubbed in order to get rid of the unholy inscription. More recently, the use of detergent has only had one effect: adding a blue color to the letters and… making them more readable!
Text: Katia Barillot
Photos: ©Anaïs Costet
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