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Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame-de-Compassion, located in the Place du Général-Kœnig in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, was originally built in 1842-1843 under the name of chapel Saint-Ferdinand. It marks the exact location where Prince Ferdinand-Philippe d'Orléans, the eldest son of King Louis-Philippe, died following a car accident on 13 July 1842. Queen Marie-Amélie, upset, ordered her construction on the plans of architect Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine, in a neo-Byzantine style evoking ancient tombs.

The chapel, richly decorated, houses major works: a cenotaph of the prince carved by Henry de Triqueti after Ary Scheffer, a Pietà representing the Queen and her son, and stained glass windows designed by Ingres, where the saints carry the features of the royal family. The stained glass windows, executed in Sèvres, symbolize the patrons of the Orléans, while the angel in prayer behind the cenotaph was designed by Princess Mary of Orléans, who died shortly before.

Ranked a historic monument in 1929, the chapel was threatened during the Franco-German War of 1870 and moved in 1968 when the Paris ring road was built. Rebuilt stone by stone at its present location, it became a parish in 1993 under the impulse of Cardinal Lustiger. Today, it welcomes a Spanish community, with Masses in Spanish and a devotion to the Virgin of Rocío, whose clothes were created by Yves Saint-Laurent.

The building preserves unique commemorative elements: two clocks frozen at the hour of the accident (11:50) and death (16:00), an altar placed at the precise place of the prince's death, and the God-Prayer embroidered by the queen. Its history reflects both a royal family drama and an urban evolution, moving from a private place of mourning to a living parish integrated into the Parisian landscape.

The stained glass windows of Ingres, preserved in the Louvre in cardboard form, illustrate the alliance between art and memory. Commanded by Louis-Philippe to honor his son, they portray the holy patrons of the family in their traits, mixing realistic portraits and religious symbolism. These works, carried out urgently by an emulated Ingres, testify to the artistic and emotional importance of the project for the July monarchy.

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