The Origin of Tourist Souvenirs
Here is an early 15C capital from the Cloister of the Cathedral in Cahors. This church was a stopover on the 3rd of the pilgrimage routes to Compostela. It went from Lyons through Conques to Cahors and on to Moissac traversing the Midi-Pyrenees. Note his beautiful velvet pilgrim's cap which is fastened by a scallop shell pin (sorry Virginia, block printing and T-shirts have not been invented yet!).He is obviously returning home with his souvenir and in his skrip is a paper telling that he has been absolved of some mortal sin (murder?).
