Heads of the kings of Judah

The 28 monumental statues of the kings of Judah overlooking the west façade of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris were deposited and destroyed during the French Revolution.

Missing until 1977, 21 of them (plus other fragments) were discovered during works in the courtyard of a private town house in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.

This is one of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century in Paris. It provides a considerable contribution to our understanding of Parisian sculpture in the first half of the 13th century.

The careful execution of the features of these ancestors of the Virgin is especially remarkable because, due to the height at which they were places, the details were not visible. A delicate polychrome, the key remains of which are still visible, further enhances these features.