The Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica, emblem of Marseille, is beginning to regain its golden splendor

Stripped of its crown in August, the statue of the Virgin and Child, protector of the Phocaean city, nicknamed "Good Mother" by the people of Marseille and one of the most famous in France, has been covered since Wednesday with 30.000 to 40.000 gold leaves, in order to restore the shine it had lost due to the mistral, sea air and industrial pollution.

Perched atop the basilica, the highest point in France's second-largest city, Ms. D'Antoni, her hair covered in gold, runs her palette across her cheek to create static electricity and more easily catch the gold leaves before placing them on the statue. She then dusts the surface with a small brush.

Equipped with a gilding cushion, the craftswoman strives to waste as little as possible by collecting the few dust particles that have not adhered, aware of the precious nature of the material she is handling.

"Once we've finished dusting, we apply a matte finish," explains the gilder, "water with a little food gelatin" to smooth out the little gold leaf that remains.

After the hand of the baby Jesus, Cyrielle and her fellow artisans will tackle the face, hair, neck and the rest of the body of the statue, a job that should last about a month.

Aware of the symbolic significance of her task, Ms. D'Antoni emphasizes the "honor" and "pleasure" of working on this site: "I am originally from the region, so it was really important to me to do this project."

Gilding for 50 years

The statue is about ten meters high, up to the top of its crown, a little more than 100 square meters will be regilded, with barely 500 grams of gold.

The precision required for this work requires special conditions: the scaffolding is entirely covered with a heat-sealed tarpaulin to protect the statue from wind and heat.

According to Xavier David, the architect in charge of the project, this operation is "historic" because "there was no such packaging" during the previous work, which now makes it possible to create a sort of workshop in the air to "work without pollution".

This new project also provided an opportunity to discover that with each outdoor restoration, the statue "recovered salt" from the sea. Thanks to this desalination, the statue's gilding should not last 25 or 30 years, as usual, but rather 50 years.

Mr. David said he was "first personally struck," but even more touched by "the wonder of all the visitors, patrons, media, and workers."

Before starting this work, the diocese of Marseille, owner of the building, had launched a donation campaign, offering individuals the chance to finance one of the 30.000 gold leaves that will be needed for the work.

The work, which also involves the pedestal, the angels and the facades, will have cost around 2,8 million euros, including 2,2 million for the regilding alone.

The diocese has also received support from patrons, such as the Marseille-based shipping company CMA CGM, owned by billionaire Rodolphe Saadé, Olympique de Marseille and the French spirits group Pernod Ricard, in addition to local authorities.