New York’s St. John the Divine hosts immersive Notre-Dame de Paris exhibition

[Episcopal News Service] The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City is featuring an immersive traveling exhibition on 850 years of Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris’ history using augmented reality through Jan. 31 in the Chapel of St. James.

“Notre-Dame de Paris, The Augmented Exhibition,” is an example of technology being “put to very good use,” the Very Rev. Patrick Malloy, dean of St. John the Divine, told Episcopal News Service.

“St. John the Divine has always, from its very beginning, seen itself not only as enshrining ancient truth and reality – ancient truth and tradition – but also trying to see the best of contemporary society and to celebrate it,” he said.

“Notre-Dame de Paris, The Augmented Exhibition” combines virtual reality technology from Histovery, a French educational tech company, to showcase illuminated photo panels, 3D models and life-size sculptures of the Roman Catholic Gothic cathedral, including a full-size chimera and other famous grotesques, and its statues of the Twelve Apostles and other biblical figures. Visitors use a touchscreen tablet, called a HistoPad, to scan designated “portals” to view the exhibition, which also features key events in Notre-Dame’s history, including its construction, St. Louis IX of France bringing a venerated relic of the crown of thorns, Napoleon I’s coronation and restoration work after a structural fire in 2019 burned the cathedral’s roof and flèche, or spire. Visitors can choose from a dozen available languages to experience the exhibition.

“This tool really allows you to explore at your own pace. …You could spend hours in the exhibit taking in all the information, or spend an hour finding what you’re most interested in, whether it’s the architecture, or the history of the people who have come through Notre-Dame or the people who are responsible for building it,” Laura Bosley, executive director of cathedral programming at St. John the Divine, told ENS.

Bosley said more than 2,150 visitors have viewed the Notre-Dame exhibition at St. John the Divine since it debuted in November 2024.

Launched in 2021, the international exhibition is running simultaneously in Tokyo, Japan; Melbourne, Australia; and Hong Kong. It was previously at Westminster Abbey in London, England; São Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; New Orleans, Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; Dubai, United Arab Emirates and other cities.

The most famous of the world’s medieval Gothic cathedrals and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Notre-Dame de Paris, French for “Our Lady of Paris,” is the seat of the Archdiocese of Paris and its archbishop, the Most. Rev. Laurent Ulrich. The cathedral, located in Paris’ 4th arrondissement, also is the subject of Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel, “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.”

Construction on the cathedral began in 1163 on the Île de la Cité, an island in the Seine and the first settlement, and was considered finished in 1350. The cathedral rose on the site of two earlier churches. Before those churches, the site held what was believed to be a Gallo-Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter, the god of the sky and thunder. Some of the Roman ruins can still be seen below the cathedral. About 12 million people visit Notre-Dame annually, making it the most visited monument in France. The cathedral houses some relics of Christ’s crucifixion, including the crown of thorns and remnants from the True Cross – a wood fragment of the cross and a nail.

In December 2024, Notre-Dame reopened for the first time since the fire broke out under the eaves of the cathedral’s roof on April 15, 2019. The incident occurred one day after Palm Sunday, when a separate, unrelated much smaller fire broke out in an art storage room in St. John the Divine’s basement crypt. Some art, including an icon, a 16th-century chair and some prints, drawings and carvings were destroyed, but overall, the fire at St. John the Divine was much less devastating than Notre-Dame’s.

“An American Gothic cathedral and a European Gothic cathedral … there were many, many bits of overlap,” said Malloy, who pointed out that St. John the Divine was built by hand like Notre-Dame, despite having more technologically advanced equipment available when construction began in 1892 in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, a couple of blocks south of Columbia University. It is one of the world’s largest cathedrals, even though construction remains unfinished today.

For these reasons, Bosley said that, in a way, St. John the Divine being a host site for “Notre-Dame de Paris, The Augmented Exhibition” is a mark of solidarity.

“That cathedral-to-cathedral connection just makes the most sense … and it’s very popular among both adults and children. The appeal is cross-generational,” she said. “When people walk into the doors of St. John the Divine, their jaws drop because they’re so in awe of the craftsmanship that has built this building, and the way the light dapples off the pillars. Notre-Dame is like that, too. You don’t need to be Episcopalian or Catholic to appreciate these incredible structures.”

Tickets for the exhibition can be purchased either online or in person. The $25 fee includes tourist admission to St. John the Divine, which supports building maintenance.

–Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.