Suspended room

1- A selection of postcards depicting the bridges of Cahors.

For conservation reasons, the postcards are replaced every month.

2- Cahors, ‘le pont vieux’ (The Old Bridge)

Circa 1860

Gelatin silver print of a 19^th century photograph

18 x 24 cm

The date and method of acquisition are unknown.

3- Weight from the City of Cahors

13^th century

Bronze

7 cm in diameter

According to the museum’s inventory, this weight was ‘found during the demolition of a wall of the citadel in Cahors’, with no further details of the location.

Acquired by the municipality of Cahors, August 1877

4- Weight from the City of Cahors

13^th century

Bronze

5.9 cm in diameter

The date and method of acquisition are unknown.

5- Weight from the City of Cahors

13^th century

Bronze

3.5 cm in diameter

In medieval times, the Kingdom of France did not have a standardised system of weights and measures. Each province, each town, and sometimes each fiefdom, used its own units. The right to set standards of measurement was, in effect, a way of asserting power over a territory. The weights, therefore, bore the coat of arms of the city or the lord. Here, on the obverse, the ‘Pont Vieux’ (Old Bridge) is represented; on the reverse, an image of the city is shown surrounded by ramparts. Only these weights, approved by the consuls, could be used in Cahors, subject to the imposition of sanctions.

According to the museum’s inventory, this weight was ‘found during the demolition of a wall of the citadel in Cahors’, with no further details of the location.

Acquired by the municipality of Cahors, August 1877

6- Plate Bearing the Coat of Arms of Cahors

18^th century

Bronze

5.5 x 5 cm

Donated by Emile Francès, 1910

7- Seal Die

19^th century

Brass and wood

10.5 cm long / 3.2 cm in diameter

On either side of the bridge, the inscription: GUIRAL CAHORS

A seal die (stamp) is used to leave an impression on a document, thereby guaranteeing its authenticity. It may feature an inscription as well as a symbol that provides information about the owner’s identity.

The date and method of acquisition are unknown.

8- Seal Die of the City of Cahors

19^th century

Brass and wood

10.5 cm long / 3.5 cm in diameter

Inscription: ‘MAIRIE DE CAHORS’ (CITY HALL OF CAHORS)

This die comes from the ‘Archives de l’Hôtel de Ville’ (City Hall Archives).

The date and method of acquisition are unknown.

9- Coat of Arms of the Cahors Cathedral Chapter

17^th–18^th centuries

Silk, metallic threads

55 x 42.5 cm

From the Middle Ages onwards, groups of priests, known as canons, were attached to certain churches, particularly to cathedrals. The cathedral chapter was responsible not only for singing during Mass but also for carrying out numerous other duties. The canons, therefore, looked after the schools, the construction or the maintenance of buildings, aid to the poor and the administration of the parish’s assets. They, therefore, played an important role in the cities, serving the local population.

The bridge depicted here is modelled on the architecture of the ‘Pont Vieux’ (Old Bridge).

The date and method of acquisition are unknown.

Louis Alexandre Montal (also known as Louis Alexandre Despeyroux)

(Cahors, 1881 – Épinay-sur-Orge, 1972)

1907

Drawing and sepia ink on paper

25.2 x 36.5 cm

Louis Alexandre Despeyroux was a French writer and graphic designer, known under the pseudonyme of L. A. Montal. In particular, he is the author of the collection of poems ‘Prières à Myotis’ (Prayers to Myotis) (1921) and the illustrated book ‘Paris, la ville aux cent visages’ (Paris, the City of a Hundred Faces) (1948).

This drawing is of interest for its documentary nature: the artist bears witness to the destruction of his city’s heritage.

Donated by the artist before 1916.

Louis Alexandre Montal (also known as Louis Alexandre Despeyroux)

(Cahors, 1881 – Épinay-sur-Orge, 1972)

Oil on canvas

65.7 x 92.5 cm

This bridge was built in the first half of the 13^th century at a point where the river could be easily crossed. The ‘count-bishop’ defended his rights on this bridge, whose fortified towers symbolised his power: it was here that those who were sentenced to terms of imprisonment were held. Furthermore, the consuls levied a toll on goods entering the city via this bridge.

Acquired before 2001.

20^th century

Painted metal

61.7 x 49.5 x 1.5 cm

Lot Department, ‘Écomusée de Cuzals’ (Cuzals Ecomuseum)

20^th century

Enamelled metal

100.6 x 149.5 x 1.2 cm

This large advertising sign lists all the reasons to persuade customers to buy their furniture from Bouzerand Bernès: the quality, the choice and the attractive prices. It also highlights the company’s long history, founded in 1828, and evokes with the Valentré Bridge its local roots.

Lot Department, ‘Écomusée de Cuzals’ (Cuzals Ecomuseum)

Edmée Larnaudie (Saint-Pierre-Toirac, 1911–2002)

1937

Oil on canvas

49 x 59.8 cm

In 1937, Edmée Larnaudie entered the ‘Concours Roux’ (Roux Competition) (‘Institut de France’ (Institute of France)), which imposed the artists to depict the ‘Veille de Noël sur la route de Bethléem’ (Christmas Eve on the Road to Bethlehem). She won first prize with this painting. The young artist drew inspiration from a work by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (circa 1525 (1527/28–1569 à verifier). He had transposed the biblical scene to a snow-covered Flemish village illuminated by the setting sun. The bustle of daily village life made the arrival of Joseph and the pregnant Mary practically unnoticed. The realism of these contemporary scenes participated in the humanisation of the incarnation of the Son of God. Edmée Larnaudie adopted this same approach of transposing the scene to a Western landscape—here, the city of Cahors, nestled within a loop of the Lot River.

Emperor Augustus had ordered a census of the entire Roman Empire’s population. Joseph, therefore, travelled to his family’s hometown, Bethlehem. In the foreground, we can recognise the Holy Family: Joseph, dressed in black, leading an ox and the donkey carrying Mary, who is draped in blue. People and animals converge on the site of the census; they flock across the bridges of the city and along the boulevard that has served as the city’s main thoroughfare since the 19^th century. Several medieval monuments are visible: the Cathedral of Saint-Étienne with its domes, the Church of Saint-Urcisse, the ‘Tour du Roi’ (King’s Tower), the ‘Tour du Pape’ (Pope’s Tower), and the Church of Saint-Barthélemy. The artist rejected the label of a ‘tourist-painter—someone [who], in passing, takes the city’s bridge and the arabesque forms of its towers and churches, leaving it misunderstood and still the guardian of its strange charm’ (‘Paysans, Paysages,’ (Farmers, Landscapes) 1941). Despite everything, the richness of this work does not reveal itself at first glance; time must be taken to savour every detail.

Purchased in 2010 with the assistance of the ‘Fonds Régional d’Acquisition pour les Musées’ (Regional Acquisition Fund for Museums)

Discover the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder by scanning this QR code!

Anonymous

Second half of the 20^th century

Gelatin silver print

48 x 58 cm

The date and method of acquisition are unknown.

Eugène Pujol (Carbonne, 1899 – Cahors, 1986)

1977

Oil on canvas

55.5 x 38.5 cm

Donated by the Pujol family, 2025

Alain Turpault (Périgueux, 1954)

2003

Prints on baryta paper, selenium toning

28 x 28 cm each photograph

For the ‘Les Eaux Volantes’ (The Flying Waters) series, Alain Turpault took for theme the River Lot. He also sought to evoke the technique of analogue photography. It is the passage of the sensitive support material through the baths of developing products that makes the image visible. Whilst light exposes the paper during the exposure, it is the wet element that reveals the image. Thus, ‘Immersion’ suggests the ‘sinking’ of the paper into the developing baths, from which it emerges transformed, whilst ‘Petite Mort’ depicts the permanent disappearance of certain supports.

Commissioned and purchased in 2014, acquired with the support of the ‘Fonds Régional d’Acquisition pour les Musées’ (Regional Acquisition Fund for Museums)

Marc Petit (Saint-Céré, 1961)

2006

Charcoal and pastel on paper

70 cm x 54.3 cm

Notes on the context of creation

City of Cahors Collection

Nadia Benchallal (Orthez, 1963)

2014

Gelatin silver print on baryta paper

Series of 12 photographs taken in June–July 2014.

46.5 x 59 cm

In 2014, the Henri-Martin Museum commissioned Nadia Benchallal to produce a photographic project on the theme of the ‘Route mondiale’ (Global Route) between Cahors and Saint-Cirq Lapopie. The artist delivered a series of 12 black-and-white photographs using the technique of double exposure, i.e., two images superimposed one on top of the other. Here, the Valentré Bridge, the starting point of the Global Route, merges with an aerial view of Cahors.

As the artist explains, this project is a personal interpretation of the environment she has travelled through and crossed on several occasions. These landscapes bear the traces of intertwined histories from different periods. The paths rise, fall and branch off before converging. Some encounters are expected; others are purely coincidental. The common thread remains ‘Route N°. 1’, the symbol of a world without borders. Double exposure is the means of revealing these overlapping timeframes and experiences.

Commissioned and purchased in 2014, acquired with the support of the ‘Fonds Régional d’Acquisition pour les Musées’ (Regional Acquisition Fund for Museums)

Jean Dieuzaide (Grenade, 1921 – Toulouse, 2003)

1950

Gelatin silver print

40 x 48 cm

At the height of the ‘Cold War’, with the looming threat of a terrible conflict between the USSR and the United States, people mobilised to unite across borders and promote universal brotherhood.

In May 1948, Garry Davis, a former bomber pilot who had come to France, renounced his American citizenship. Declaring himself the ‘first citizen of the world’, he appealed to the UN. His initiative sparked widespread public enthusiasm and garnered support from famous writers and newspapers that had emerged from the Resistance.

A committee led by Robert Sarrazac and Dr. Louis Sauvé gave Cahors a central role in this humanist movement. On the 30^th of July 1949, following a rally on the Allées Fénelon, the City Council adopted the ‘Charte de mondialisation des communes et des villes du Monde’ (Charter for the World Integration of Municipalities and Cities). The city proclaimed itself ‘Cahors Mundi’ — ‘Cahors-du-Monde’ (Cahors of the World). The initiative was so strongly embraced by the residents of the Lot region and their elected officials that, by February 1950, 239 of the department’s municipalities had adopted the Charter.

‘Journées de la mondialisation’ (World Integration Days) were held in Cahors on the 23^rd, 24^th and 25^th of June 1950, attended by that year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A sculpture of the ‘petit homme’ (Little Man) —a symbol of humanism— stood in the square in front of the City Hall. Shopkeepers decorated their windows to honour ‘Cahors Mundi, and the city was decked out in the seven colours of the rainbow as a sign of peace and brotherhood. On the 25^th of June 9.30 p.m., the people of Cahors gathered near to the Valentré Bridge. The border stone for ‘route mondiale n°1’ (World Route N° 1)’ was unveiled as fireworks were set off to the strains of a Beethoven symphony. A procession of cars set off along this ‘Route without borders’—delineated by border stones—running alongside the Lot River. Villagers lined the route all the way to Tour-de-Faure, at the foot of Saint-Cirq Lapopie, which was illuminated by Bengal lights (flares).

That same day, the Korean War broke out. Antagonism between the Western and Eastern blocs intensified, stifling hopes for a peaceful world built on solidarity.

Acquired prior to 2001

Eugène Pujol (Carbonne, 1899 – Cahors, 1986)

1949

Oil on panel

38.7 x 46 cm

Eugène Pujol produced a great many works depicting the monuments of Cahors, such as the Valentré Bridge. The artist generally observed them from a certain distance, as if to contemplate and take in a fuller view of them. The buildings, thereby, find themselves in the background in the upper half of the composition. The foreground is often occupied by the river and its banks. Here, the main subject of this small painting seems to be the family scene rather than the bridge, which is treated as a theatrical backdrop.

Donated by the Pujol family, 2025

Painted metal

53.5 x 151 x 18 cm

This scaled model of the Valentré Bridge was one of the signs at the Tivoli café, a popular social hub on the Boulevard Gambetta in Cahors (now known as ‘Le Bureau’).

Instantly recognisable to everyone, this object reflects the pride felt by the city’s residents in possessing such a monument

Lot Department, ‘Écomusée de Cuzals’ (Cuzals Ecomuseum)

Historical photograph (before 1914) of the Tivoli café, where we can see the sign

(Jean-Louis Nespoulous collection)

Eugène Pujol (Carbonne, 1899 – Cahors, 1986)

Printed on paper

88 x 64 cm

For several decades, the ‘Foire-Exposition de Cahors’ (Cahors Trade Fair and Exhibition) was the unmissable event of the autumn. Stalls would line the ‘Allées Fénelon’ (Fénelon Alley) to showcase the latest products and innovations designed to make everyday life easier or allowing significant savings. Newspaper articles highlighted the general good humour and festive atmosphere of these annual gatherings.

Private collection

Eugène Pujol (Carbonne, 1899 – Cahors, 1986)

Printed on paper

94 x 65 cm

Eugène Pujol employs a highly graphic composition to create an immediate impact: the orange silhouette of the bridge with its three towers stands out against a dark blue background evoking the night. Blue, white and red beams of light lend a national character to a local event. The Valentré Bridge, therefore, appears as the perfect symbol of citizenship.

Private collection

Eugène Pujol (Carbonne, 1899 – Cahors, 1986)

Printed on paper

89 x 65.5 cm

Hanging like a sign, the silhouette of the Valentré Bridge stands out in black against a plain blue background. It is instantly recognisable and epitomises, all on its own, the image of the city.

Private collection