Note 177 — Chapter VII · Plantagenet Gothic Architecture[174]

The cathedral of Cahors was damaged by earthquake in 1303, after which its apse was rebuilt as Gothic, but not too much out of harmony with the rest of the church. The ancient frescoes are full of interest. At the north end of the transept is a now unused portal, whose sculpture belongs to the same Midi school as Moissac, but later and calmer work. The Christ of its tympanum is classed with Vézelay, Chartres, and Beaulieu—the supreme Christ images of Romanesque art. M. Forel praises the angels’ magnificent gesture of adoration. The XIV-century west front resembles those of the Brunswick churches whose façade and towers comprise one massive up to the roof. John XXII (1316-33), the second Avignon pope, was born in Cahors, where he founded the university, contributed toward the cathedral, and built a bridge over the Lot which is considered the handsomest of the Middle Ages. In the diocese of Cahors is Rocamadour, the most picturesque pilgrim shrine of Our Lady in France, visited by St. Louis. E. Rey, La cathédrale St. Étienne de Cahors (Cahors, J. Girma, 1911); Congrès Archéologique, 1907, p. 413; Alexis Forel, l’Voyage au pays des sculpteurs romans, vol. 2, p. 52; “Le cloître de la cathédrale de Cahors,” in Bulletin Monumental, 1883, p. 110; E. Rupin, Roc-amadour (Paris, Baranger, 1904).