It took a lot of craftsmen, artists and unique tradespeople to rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral in record time. Some of the experts involved in the project work in trades we mere mortals have never heard of. Even their job titles are a mystery. How do you explain a word like rentrayeur or patineur to someone learning to speak French? So let’s find out more about the trades that capture both a specific form of expertise and cultural heritage as we learn the lingo (worthy of a near-fluent French language student) behind the epic Notre-Dame rebuild.
Carriers or quarriers
It all starts with the quarriers. Their work begins away from the building site in quarries, some of which were specially reopened for Notre-Dame. These tradespeople carefully choose stones based on their composition, colour and strength. The quarriers had to find limestone blocks that were almost identical to the ones used in the 13th century to ensure the vaults and walls at Notre-Dame were secure.
Quarriers often work in difficult conditions outdoors and underground. They use specific machinery and explosives to extract rock and cut the rock into consistent shapes (débitage in French if you want to impress your teacher).
Couvreurs-zingueurs or zinc roofers
Zinc roofers are tightrope walkers working dozens of metres high on Notre-Dame’s lead roof. It’s a trade that requires expert technique and peak physical fitness to fit, alter and weld the lead plates protecting the carpentry to make it watertight. They also took care of restoring the decorative features true to the originals, such as the weather vanes and crosses.
Dinandiers or brownsmiths
Brownsmiths work with brass and copper and helped restore the sixteen life-size statues adorning Notre-Dame’s spire. The brownsmiths put pedal to the metal in their workshop: they cleaned every brass plate, removed any rust, repaired distorted sections and applied a new patina to each statue. What do we mean by patina? A patina, or patine in French, is a surface that either has an aged appearance or a sheen to it. If you want to give something a patina, you need to call the….
Patineurs
There’s no English equivalent for the masters of patination, but patineurs make sure that bronze doesn’t turn verdigris and silver doesn’t go black! Patineurs are the craftsmen who give metallic designs and statues the finishing touch. They have to revive the original colours and protect the pieces from wear, tear and the elements. They can’t apply a patina before analysing the condition of the metal, cleaning the surfaces and conducting painstaking work to imitate the effects of natural ageing. The patineurs working on Notre-Dame used archive photos of the spire in 1860 to recreate the statues’ signature dark brown colour!
Facteurs d’orgues or organ builders
Organ builders specialise in making, maintaining and restoring organs and their parts. The Grand Organ at Notre-Dame is grand in every sense, with 8000 pipes and 115 stops. It may have survived the fire but it was significantly damaged by lead dust. Like the sound engineers they are, the organ builders knew how to dismantle the instrument one piece at a time. Every element — pipes, bellows, wind chests — was sent to several specialist workshops across France. Organ building involves several areas of expertise: woodwork for the organ case, metalwork for the pipes and acoustics for the sound quality. Once rebuilt, it takes at least six months of work to tune it to ensure every single note rings out in the cathedral.
Rentrayeurs or antique textile restorers
Antique textile restoration is a little-known area of textile heritage. Restorers played a crucial role repairing a 25m rug commissioned by King Charles X in 1825 for Notre-Dame’s choir. The rug was rarely on display and was damaged by mites and lengthy storage. The restorers worked hard in their studio analysing every thread, identifying missing or weak areas and carefully repairing tears with new wool or silk yarn. Their unique talent not only restored the piece to its former glory but also strengthened it so it can be handled with peace of mind.
Doreurs-ornemanistes or gilders
Gilders give decorative items their glow back. Their expertise was essential to restoring the angels and golden features around the oculus that were destroyed when the spire collapsed at Notre-Dame. Armed with their gilder’s cushion and tiny brushes, they apply a thin layer of gold leaf with extreme precision and patience. They ensure the light bounces off every surface to restore the monument to its former glory.
Restaurateurs de peintures de chevalet or easel painting conservators
The Mays are 22 priceless paintings that were removed from Notre-Dame during the fire (read our previous article: Our Top Tips for Visiting Notre Dame in 2025). These 17th century masterpieces were donated by the goldsmith’s guild and required special attention. The conservators analysed every layer of paint to get to grips with the original painting. They then cleaned the surfaces, filled in any cracks and touched up damaged areas in keeping with the period’s colours. Easel painting conservators dabble in history, psychology and art: they have to understand the artist’s intent and reproduce the colours and strokes of the original piece.
Serruriers d’art or artisan metalworkers
Don’t be fooled: serrurier may mean locksmith in French but these serruriers don’t check the locks on the cathedral’s doors are working properly! These artisan metalworks use a great deal of technique and artistry to restore the metallic structures of statues and decorative features.
They worked on the internal structures of the spire’s statues at Notre-Dame. The often-corroded metalwork was replaced or repaired to strengthen it and make it last longer. They worked with blacksmiths to make wrought iron decorative details and give the building a finishing touch.
Craftsmen with unique expertise were involved in rebuilding Notre-Dame and keeping their legacy alive. Learning about these trades has introduced us to a whole host of French terms a lot of us have never heard of… and maybe even introduced us to a future career?