The relation between Curia and Episcopate being thus clearly
defined, Benedict appointed a compatriot, Pierre Poisson de Mirepoix,
master of the works, and, since about two-thirds of the existing palace
dates from Benedict's reign, Pierre Poisson may be regarded as its first
architect.
More, probably, is known of the construction of the papal palace of
Avignon than of any other relic of medieval architecture. Thanks to the
researches of Father Ehrle, Prefect of the Vatican Library, and other
scholars, the sums paid to the contractors, their names, the estimates of
quantities, the wages of the chief workmen, and the price of materials,
are before us, and we can trace day by day and month by month the progress
of the great pile. The whole of the craftsmen, with the exception of the
later master painters from Italy and some northern sculptors, were either
Avignonais, Gascons or Provencals.
The first work undertaken by Pierre was the enlargement of the papal
chapel of John XXII. This was doubled in length, and the lavish
decorations executed by John's master painter, Friar Pierre Dupuy, were
continued on the walls of the added portion; payments for white, green,
indigo, vermilion, carmine and other pigments, and for colored tiles,
testify to the brilliancy of its interior.
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