Photography versus the Historical Record: The Role of Photography in Rouen’s Gros-Horloge Restoration

In France, the use of photography in the process of enhancing architectural heritage started as early as the mid-nineteenth century, with surveys of monuments before and after restoration work, identification of national landmark campaigns, and establishment of photographic archives. The analysis of its use by Louis Sauvageot in the restoration of the Gros-Horloge of Rouen in 1889 reveals that its impact is particularly complex and ambiguous. The spread of photography confirmed rather than questioned a stylistic approach that was used more and more in the creation of monuments typical of every historical period. But what is more surprising is the paradoxical effect of the existence in France of extensive photographic documentation of past restorations; there is very low interest in these archives demonstrated by those involved with the restorations of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Misunderstandings created by the transformations of these monuments are fed by a forgetfulness of past restorations and by the distribution of inaccurately dated photographic reproductions. These errors multiply the effects of the poor interpretation of astonishing historical hybrids created by the restorers of the nineteenth century.