Located just off Leicester Square in London’s West End, this round church is tucked cozily between a movie theater and (when I was there in April) a construction site. I knew about the Cocteau mural, and so my husband, Eric, and I set off in search of it, taking a few wrong turns before arriving. (We were looking for a rotunda, not knowing that it’s hidden behind a flat brick facade!)
Inside, what a change of pace from the noise and flashiness of Piccadilly Circus! The pews stretch wide to invite people to pray, reflect, hear God—or even just to take a rest, as several were doing while we were there.
Serving as a mission for the French (and French-speaking) community in London, Notre Dame de France has existed at this site for a century and a half. In 1865, the Marist Father Charles Faure bought a late-eighteenth-century panorama building (an entertainment venue where people came to see long scroll paintings displayed along the cylindrical walls in a 360-degree view), and architect Louis Auguste Boileau transformed it into a church. The church suffered bomb damage during World War II but was reconstructed in 1953 by Hector Corfiato of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. During this time of reconstruction, new art was commissioned for the interior and exterior.
Stone Relief Carvings: The Life of Mary
On the two pillars outside is a series of eight scenes from the life of Mary, carved by students from the École des Beaux-Arts. Notice the different styles of the different artists.
What stood out to me as unique is that in the Annunciation carving, the artist depicts a whole flock of doves rather than just a single one to represent the Holy Spirit sweeping in.
The Annunciation.
The Nativity. Signed “Bourdet-Bulioz.”
The Jesus Question 