An art critic mourns the cultural tragedy of Notre Dame
In October 1793, anti-royalist citizens of Paris stormed the cathedral of Notre Dame, grabbing ropes and pulling down stone sculptures from the monumental facade.
The mob mistook the royally garbed biblical kings of Judah for ancestors of the French monarchy, and they had had enough. The Catholic Church held the power to tax, and the lavish royal court had drained the treasury, bankrupting the nation. A long-gathering fury suddenly focused on the corrupt union of church and state.
The guillotine was working overtime, severing the heads of
