Sylvain Stym-Popper (1906-1969) studied at the Ecole des Beaux-arts in Paris, earning an architecture degree in 1932. A history buff, he began his career as chief architect of the historical monuments in 1946. Among the 5000 photographs taken by Stym-Popper held in the Médiathèque de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, there is a small set of images documenting the restoration he oversaw in the 1950s of the cloister of the Abbaye Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa in the Pyrenees-Orientales. Following the suppression of the monastic orders by the French Revolution of 1790, the monks left the abbey, which was sold in 1791. The dismantling of the abbey only began at the beginning of the 19th century: pieces of the structure were scattered throughout surrounding villages and often reused. In 1862, the abbey was classified as a historical monument, which in theory should have protected it from looting and damage. However, in 1907, the artist and art dealer Georges Grey Barnard managed to convince the owner of the abbey to sell him the arches that were still standing. These were acquired by John Rockefeller, Jr., in 1925, becoming the Metropolitan Museum of New York’s famous “cloisters,” one of the collection’s crown jewels.
Read the full article on the French version of Le Journal.
