Fraternité talk: Restoration and salvage
Join Alexandra Gajewski, Reviews Editor at the Burlington Magazine, to discover the impact of the fire at Notre-Dame on the medieval art and architecture, and the plans to restore it.
Notre-Dame's restoration in Paris got off to a slow start after the cathedral's roof was destroyed in 2019. Despite delays due to lead pollution, the 2020-21 lockdown, and safety measures, President Macron's promise of reopening this year seems on track.
Join Dr Alexandra Gajewski, as she looks back on the last five years since she was given exclusive access to plans for the restoration of Notre Dame and wrote about them then in The Burlington Magazine. Her talk will look back on the last four years of restoration, thinking about what has been achieved (and what has not) and concluding with an outlook on the future of this famous building.
Dr. Gajewski will later be joined by Vanessa Simeoni, Head Conservator, to speak about the affect the fire at Notre Dame had on salvage planning at Westminster Abbey.
About Alexandra Gajewski
Alexandra Gajewski is an art and architectural historian specialising in the medieval and late medieval period. She studied Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, where she obtained her Ph.D. on Gothic architecture in northern Burgundy. She has taught at the University of London (Courtauld Institute, UCL, Birkbeck), at the V&A, Christies Education and as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She has worked as a Senior Researcher for the European Research Council project ‘Reassessing Women as Makers of Art and Architecture’, located at the CCHS—CSIC, Madrid. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Her research concentrates on the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, especially on questions of monasticism, cult, patronage, and the role of women. She has published widely on French Gothic architecture as well as on Cistercian architecture and medieval women and textiles.
About Vanessa Simeoni
Vanessa Simeoni ACR, is a stone and preventive conservator and Head Conservator at Westminster Abbey. On graduating from the City & Guilds of London Art School’s BA (Hons) Conservation Studies in 1992, she was employed by Cliveden Conservation Workshops for seven years working across the UK on a variety of stone conservation projects. She worked at various National Trust, English Heritage and Historic Royal Palaces sites as well as Uppark House and Windsor Castle, post fires. She developed a specialism in the conservation of medieval floor tiles through projects at numerous cathedrals in the UK. Historic floors and churches remain a passion for her.
She set up conservation at Westminster Abbey in 1999 and heads two small teams of dedicated conservators and conservation housekeepers. In addition to stone, Vanessa focuses on preventive conservation and collection care. Major Abbey projects include the conservation of the Cosmati pavement and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries.
Additional information
You are welcome to attend Evensong at 5pm before the talk.
Doors for the talk in Cheneygates open at 6pm.
The talk starts at 6.30 and will last approximately 1 hour with an opportunity for questions.
Fraternité
These activities are part of Fraternité, a spring season at the Abbey celebrating the links between the UK and France with music, talks and events.
