The House of Musicians in Reims has been restored and its group of statues, widely regarded as amongst the most remarkable from medieval Europe, has been reinstated. A tale of human endeavour that has united avid enthusiasts and benefactors.
It is September, 1917. Just a few miles from Reims, the frontline had been at a stalemate, stand-off for 3 years. The bombardments are intensifying. Some 1600 shells pound the city every day, gradually destroying its historic centre as the weeks roll on. Henri Deneux — architect of historical monuments — mobilises the troops to remove the five statues for which the House of Musicians is famous from its façade. A little over a century later, the iconic Reims building has resurfaced on Rue du Tambour — the symbol of a past erased.
Restoring the House Of Musicians: One project, one team
This has been the fruit of the slow and patient work of the Reims’ House of Musicians Renaissance Association, which set itself the task of rebuilding the façade of this building, an emblem of medieval Reims. The Demeure des Comtes de Champagne (The Comtes de Champagne Residence), attached to the House of Musicians next door, is owned by Maison Taittinger. Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger has always known that his family wanted to see the return of these musicians to the façade on Rue du Tambour one day. “Ever since our House was founded in 1934, we have wanted to restore the house next door to its former glory. This project is actually a promise I made to my father before he passed away.” At the helm of the association is Jacques Douadi — former vice-president of the Regional Council — whom Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger refers to as the “team leader” of this compact and efficient team.
“It is made up of friends, there’s around fifteen of us, he says, each of whom brings their own skillset to the table.” Be it private fundraising, accountancy, legal advice, construction management — the needs are many. “We formed a sort of commando unit by combining our individual expertise“, smiles Jacques Douadi. The project to restore the façade and reinstate its group of statues has also benefited from another incredibly important set of skills brought by Reims resident Patrick Demouy. As one of France’s leading medieval scholars, his expert knowledge made him the ideal candidate for vice-president of the association, which quickly became recognised as being of significant public interest. This being so, the association soon found itself in a stronger position to appeal for donations from private donors to help fund its project. Next, it fell to convincing the authorities — especially architect of the Bâtiments de France at the time and now deputy director of the Regional Directorate of Culture Grand Est, Virginie Thévenin — of the relevance and feasibility of the project. “She really listened to our proposal and decided to take a gamble on this unique project. The reinstatement of statues, for example, is a practice almost unheard of in France.” The project essentially involved installing five new statues, exact replicas of the originals, onto the outside of the first storey; although battered and altered over the centuries, the original layout from its first construction in the mid-13th century was retained. As for the ground floor, architect Frédéric Coqueret wanted to take a contemporary approach, bringing out the pre-existing arches whilst ensuring flow and consistency. To help, a wealth of important documentation was gathered by Patrick Demouy and a few others, including prints and drawings from the mid-19th century that showed how the façade looked back then.
A unique group of statues
It is worth noting that this group of musicians holds a very special place in the history of medieval statues. It is one of the first European examples — and, indeed, perhaps first ever — of statues depicting secular characters, with no religious agenda. “A lot of research went into piecing together the lineage of the successive owners of this house. It is linked to families of drapers, rich textile merchants“, explains Jacques Douadi. There are four musicians, each playing a musical instrument of the era — a tambourine and flute, French bagpipes, a harp and a vielle — surrounding a young man, the listener, with a falcon perched on his arm. Most certainly a Lord or the wealthy master of the house. Analysis of the style in which the statues were created, especially the faces of the five characters, links them directly to those depicted on Notre-Dame Cathedral in Reims, “renowned for the expressiveness of the faces carved into the sculptures by the expert stonemasons and which constitute one of their most unique features.” The smiling angel and many of the cathedral’s other statues are clear examples of this. The stonemasons working on the nearby site almost certainly must have spotted the opportunity to secure additional work to provide for their families whilst pursuing their artistic ambitions.
Future projects
From the very start, Maison Taittinger quickly became the primary sponsor of this ambitious adventure. Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger drew on his wealth of experience in the business world to attract additional partners. “As I like to say, every person involved added their own stone to the building and the impetus from Pierre-Emmanuel ensured we got the attention of and an audience with major benefactors from within France and abroad“, explains Jacques Douadi. In addition to Champagne Taittinger, other project sponsors include The Versailles & Giverny Foundation in New York, Hawesko Holding AG in Hamburg, the regional and national Crédit Agricole foundation, and the regional delegation of the Heritage Foundation. Collectively, these companies and foundations contributed €1M of a €1.2M budget to the project, the rest of which was secured by contributions from public authorities including the Ministry of Culture, Region Grand Est, the Department of Marne, the City of Reims, and more. And the House of Musicians Renaissance Association doesn’t intend to stop there. In partnership with the Marne Association for the Visually Impaired, it hopes to commission the production of scale models of the statues in resin, so that the visually impaired can trace with their fingertips the contours chiselled by the master masons. There may also be a scientific and historical book in the pipeline examining the history of the house and the work undertaken in recent years. And finally, a concert of medieval music is also being planned for music festival “Flâneries 2023” as a tribute to these musicians — who have afforded us such an intriguing glimpse into the distant Middle Ages — and to the mysterious figure who commissioned them… For a valiant heart, nothing is impossible. That has already been proven.