The archangel of Mont-Saint-Michel will improve its image. He will be taken off the Abbey on Thursday to be restored in the Dordogne.
The Archangel dominating the Mont-Saint-Michel rises to over 156 m above sea level and is most affected by sea spray. He will be eligible for restoration. A first since 1987, when the unique restoration of the statue of 3.50 meters high, designed by Emmanuel Frémiet since its installation in 1897.
Because the archangel has at all its brilliance. “We take advantage of an upgrading of lightning rods, that are in fact the sword and wings of the archangel, last performed of lesser magnitude than in 1987 “explains the director of the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, Xavier Bailly.
The archangel, weighing 800 kg, is expected to be lowered by helicopter on Thursday from the spire of the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel and trucked to Marsac-sur-l’Isle in the Dordogne. The workshops Socra, which specialize in the refurbishment of giant works of art, employs about thirty people, and has to his credit prestigious restorations as the Hall of mirrors at Versailles, the sculptures at the Opera Garnier and they also restored the statue of Napoleon in Cherbourg.
The archangel is an iron structure, clad in welded copper plates and gold, showing flexibility to withstand wind. The statue cap a Gothic spire that crowns the pointed roof of the central tower of the abbey. It represents St. Michael slaying with a sword, wings, a dragon embodying evil.
