This volume for the Corpus Vitrearum series, developed from the author's PhD thesis, documents the maintenance of historic stained glass in Paris, from the destruction, damage and changes wrought upon churches during the Revolutionary period, through to the rediscovery of glass-painting techniques in the first half of the nineteenth century, to the large restoration campaigns of the mid-nineteenth century. It is the first of the International Corpus Vitrearum studies to deal specifically with nineteenth-century restoration processes, and thus makes a significant contribution to scholarship on both medieval and post-medieval stained glass.

Pillet deftly identifies the individuals and narrates the circumstances involved in the removal, replacement and repair of ancient stained glass in Paris churches over two centuries, focusing especially on the period between 1780 and 1870. In so doing, she traces the evolution of an ideal restoration debate. The result is an impressive synthesis of archival documentation and visual and technical analysis that combines architectural, social, political and religious histories with information about the supply and manufacture of glass, developments in glass painting and nineteenth-century approaches to restoration. For example, we learn how the medieval glazing of Saint-Germain des Prés was exposed to a potentially harmful environment when potassium nitrate was manufactured in the church during the Revolution. The glass also suffered mutilation at the hands of glaziers carrying out decrees for the removal of arms before many panels were dispersed across the world.

As well as contributing to our understanding of the heritage and conservation of medieval and Renaissance glass, this study plays a pivotal role in adjusting our current understanding of the nineteenth-century stained-glass restorer in a period of varied training and unregulated documentation. One of the volume's greatest attributes is its unravelling of the complex network of individuals and institutions involved in the maintenance of the city's historic stained glass. Pillet reveals the unique jurisdiction of the Parisian Administration on the maintenance of Parisian churches, and draws attention to the roles played by prominent figures such as Alexandre Lenoir, as well as municipal architect-inspector Victor Baltard, and glaziers such as Louis Huin in their employment. She outlines how restoration work was regulated and controlled, and examines the price of restoration work through accounts and receipts.

In assembling historic documentation of previous restorations, Pillet has consulted a vast number of archival and iconographic sources, published and unpublished accounts. One of the frustrations of such a study is that these sources invariably reveal little information about the precise role and interventions of the glazier. Pillet's section on Prosper Lafaye, the most prolific restorer of stained glass in Parisian churches during this period, is an exception. She presents an invaluable biographical account of Lafaye, which sheds new light on collaborations with his wife, Sophie (née Copée), and the departmental glazier, Charles Denis. Pillet analyses Lafaye's restoration principles and practice from diaries and correspondence in private archives and a number of surviving drawings and watercolours held in the Musée Carnavalet.

Although a number of Parisian sites are discussed in the main text, which forms the bulk of this study, the catalogue includes twelve parish churches, some of which have since been destroyed and the glass lost or placed elsewhere. Each catalogue entry begins with a brief restoration history, and, where the glass survives and it has been possible to trace restorations, an account of interventions is given window by window. Architectural plans are helpfully provided here, although it is a shame that a map of the churches’ geographical location within Paris is not included. The publishers have, thankfully, recognised the importance of high-quality colour illustrations in a study of stained glass, and these are well integrated into the main text and form an integral part of the catalogue, where Lafaye's watercolours are juxtaposed with modern photographs. In the case of the church of Saint-Merry this enables us to see the state of glazing schemes after the removal of panels during eighteenth-century lighting campaigns and before the interventions of Lafaye and Denis.

The ‘Justification Pieces’ contain previously unpublished legislations and documentation on the restoration of historic glass in Paris, and the repertoire of glaziers and glass painters involved is an extremely useful resource. Pillet's bibliography demonstrates her reliance on French scholarship, and omits important publications in English such as Virginia Raguin's article on the nineteenth-century revival and restoration of stained glass (Raguin Reference Raguin1990), which might have offered fruitful comparative material. Nonetheless, researchers will continue to return to this book for reference in many years to come, and it sets a high standard for future scholarship in this neglected area.