Overview
After the 2019 fire at Notre-Dame de Paris, a lead coffin was exhumed from the cathedral, molded over a body with no name or inscription. The investigation, initially archaeological, uncovered a mystery: what was this coffin doing in the center of the cathedral, opposite the rood screen, the wall that hid mass from the eyes of the faithful? Clues point to Renaissance poet Joachim Du Bellay. Could his verses have concealed the suffering of a sick man? And why would he have been buried at Notre-Dame, in a place his biographers have sought for over two centuries? Across autopsies, archives, and forgotten verses, the investigation came to read like The Da Vinci Code at Notre-Dame. But this book goes further: it examines illness, Du Bellay's and those of the afflicted today, and explores the fragile links between isolation, creation, and the gaze of others. A dive into the intersection of history, poetry, and intimate secrets.
