Restoration of Michel Bréal's grave

Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris — July to September 2026

A restoration project?
Project · Funerary heritage
BeforeMichel Bréal's grave before restoration, soiled marble and illegible inscriptions
Before restoration
AfterMichel Bréal's grave after restoration, cleaned marble and gilded inscriptions
After restoration — 15 September 2026
BeforeBlackened marble planter without inscription, before restoration
Planter before: blackened marble, no inscription
AfterMarble planter engraved “Michel Bréal, philologue, père du marathon”, gold-leaf lettering
Planter: new inscription engraved and gilded

Athéna Luxe restored the grave of Michel Bréal (1832-1915), the linguist who founded semantics, professor at the Collège de France and originator of the idea of the marathon race.

After gentle cleaning and hand sanding, the inscriptions were re-engraved by hand and gilded with gold leaf, followed by a protective impregnation. The grave was unveiled on 15 September 2026 at a ceremony attended by representatives of the marathon world from Europe and the United States.

Artmarathon entrusted the work directly to Alain Buitrago, founder of Athéna Luxe, without a tender. A stone carver, he also took part in the restoration of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.

  • Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris 14th
  • Works from July to September 2026
  • Cleaning, sanding, re-engraving, new hand-carved inscription on the planter, 23-carat gold leaf gilding, protection
  • Commissioned by Artmarathon — Funded by AIMS
“Very beautiful… craftsmanship simply cannot do better.”Benedikt Morandi, President of Artmarathon

Press: Die Rheinpfalz, 18 September 2026 · Unveiling honoured by the German Embassy in France.

A restoration project?

Condition before restoration — from the technical survey

Michel Bréal's grave at Montparnasse Cemetery before restoration, overall view
Overall view of the grave before the works
Marble top slab and base blackened before restoration
Top slab and base blackened by pollution and micro-fungi
Worn inscriptions and cracks in the marble slab before restoration
Worn lettering and two cracks in the top slab
Main face of Michel Bréal's grave with soiled inscriptions before restoration
Main face: soiled, barely legible inscriptions

Marble work · Stone carving · Lapidary restoration · Pietra Dura

Method

How the work was carried out

  1. Survey and technical fileMeasurements, photographs and diagnosis: lettering almost illegible, blackening caused by pollution and micro-fungi, two cracks in the white marble top slab.
  2. Cleaning and hand sandingGentle cleaning of the five faces of the grave with a paste suited to marble, followed by hand sanding and polishing to recover a sound surface.
  3. Re-engraving every inscription725 characters (spaces included) re-engraved by hand, matching the size and design of the original letters, for the seven family members buried there.
  4. New inscription on the planter“Michel Bréal, philologue, père du marathon”: letters laid out with a stencil, then carved by hand into the marble planter.
  5. Gold leaf gildingSize applied letter by letter, 23-carat gold leaf laid, then a protective impregnation over the whole grave.
  6. UnveilingWork carried out under a shelter, Saturdays included, to hand over the grave on 15 September 2026, the day of the ceremony.
Background

Why this grave matters

Born in Landau in 1832 and died in Paris in 1915, Michel Bréal founded semantics and was a professor at the Collège de France. He suggested to Pierre de Coubertin that a marathon race be held at the first modern Olympic Games, in Athens in 1896.

The anniversary of his letter, 15 September, is becoming World Marathon Day. The restored grave was unveiled that day in the presence of AIMS, Artmarathon, the Michel Bréal Society, Horst Milde, founder of the Berlin Marathon, and a descendant of Michel Bréal.