Here is the Kings gallery that you can still see on the façade of Notre-Dame.

All 28 statues were replaced in 1858 at the time of the cathedral's big restoration (and makeover) by chief architect Viollet-le-Duc. He even posed for one of the statues! The 8th one starting from the left.

Here below is a close-up so that you can see him better (he's in the middle):

Viollet-le-Duc even had the nerve to have himself represented as one of the twelve apostles!

He chose to appear as Saint Thomas who is the patron saint of architects.

But this sculpture is even more difficult to see because it's on the roof at the base of the spire.

Yes the spire which was recently rebuilt after the fire. The statues of the twelve apostles survived

the fire because they had been taken down to be restored before the fire happened

(I'll give you the whole incredible story when I see you ;-) and were put back in 2025.

The two pictures just above were taken before the fire of 2019 and you can therefore see the former spire. I did this on purpose because the apostles' statues, being made of copper, had turned green through time and oxydation and, now that they've been restored and protected with a black patina, you don't see

the details as well and they're even more difficult to spot out from the groundfloor.

I guess we'll just have to wait a hundred years before we can see them again the way I like them...

In the meantime, I have a lot more amazing tidbits to tell you about that spire when I see you! 😏