The Sippican Historical Society Speaker Series continues via Zoom this Thursday, February 11, at 7:00 pm when Caroline Bruzelius presents “The Fire at Notre-Dame in Paris: Consolidation, Repair, and New Knowledge.” The fire at Notre-Dame on April 15, 2019, was a horrifying shock to all who know and love Paris. Although the cathedral was saved, its restoration is enormously complex and may take much longer than the five years promised by President Macron. Stabilizing the cathedral while removing the crumbling debris of the previous scaffolding presents extraordinary engineering challenges, a process still far from complete.
At the same time that the site is being cleared and consolidated, a remarkable group of enterprising scholars has united to study all aspects of the cathedral, from the origins of the wood and stone to structural aspects of medieval construction. Utilizing a wide range of new analytical technologies, the study of the cathedral promises to generate new knowledge and a new model of interdisciplinary and state-of-the art collaboration between experts in material science and historians.
Caroline Bruzelius is a scholar of medieval architecture and sculpture in Italy and France. She has published extensively on Gothic buildings and taught at Duke University from 1981 to 2018. She was the director of the American Academy in Rome from 1994 to 1998.
Contact Leslie Piper at info@sippicanhistoricalsociety.org to request the Zoom link for this fascinating presentation.
Sippican Historical Society is also currently presenting its winter exhibit: The Art of Helen Hiller Hills. Our winter exhibit highlights Helen’s work in a variety of media including oils, pen and ink, and pastels. We look forward to welcoming you. Winter museum hours are Thursdays 11:00 am – 1:00 pm, and Saturdays 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.