Interior of the cathedral, Arras

Photograph shows rubble from damage to the interior of the Arras Cathedral in Arras, France.
Caption label from exhibit "World War I ...": American Red Cross Captures the War's Devastation. During French Commander-in-Chief Robert Nivelle's attempt to push back the German line in April 1917, the Napoleonic-era edifice of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Vaast d'Arras was destroyed. This photo part of American Red Cross documentation of the war's aftermath captures the extent of the damage caused when the roof collapsed, destroying most of the nave and transept. Not everyone decried it as an architectural loss. Arthur Stanley Riggs wrote, "As we stood looking at the cathedral one brilliant morning, and marveling at the unique change shell-fire had made in this case transforming one of the ugliest Renaissance churches in France into a sublime and inspiring ecclesiastical ruin. . . ."

Inscribed on lower left corner of photo: 2331.
Printed on mount: American Red Cross Washington, D.C.
Exhibited: "World War I : American Artists View the Great War" in the Graphic Arts Gallery, Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., October 2016 - May 2017.
(American Red Cross), c5, d4, France - Reconstruction - Rebuilding