Cahier, Charles

CAHIER, CHARLES. - French Jesuit and archaeologist, b. in Paris on 26 Feb. 1807, d. there on 27 Feb. 1882. He devoted almost his entire life to studies of religious archaeology, with the declared aim of not leaving the field to unbelieving masters.

In collaboration with Fr. Arturo Martin (v.) he published: Monographie de la cathédrale de Bourges (Paris 1841-44, large fol.; only the first part: Vitraux du XIIIe siècle, with 33 plates remarkable for the time), and Mélanges d'archéologie, d'histoire et de littérature (4 vols., ibid. 1848-56, in-4° with figures).

After the death of his collaborator (1856), he published the material he had prepared with him: Suite aux mélanges d'archéologie (ibid. 1868, 2 vols., almost entirely of plates), and Nouveaux mélanges d'archéologie, d'histoire et de littérature du moyen âge (4 vols. in-4°, ibid. 1874-77, with many figures; the list of the dissertations of the three series, with the part belonging to each of the two authors, is found in Leclercq, cited infra). Meanwhile, C. opened the way to modern iconography with his very useful Caractéristiques des saints dans l'art populaire (2 vols. in-4°, ibid. 1867, an alphabetical repertory of emblems and symbols, with ca. 500 figures drawn by Martin). Besides many articles in: Annales de philosophie religieuse, Études, Revue de l'art chrétien, etc., he worked extensively on a Géographie ecclésiastique, which remained unpublished.

With the defects of a self-taught man and an originality at times somewhat bizarre, C. was, in the studies of medieval archaeology, a pioneer of very vast erudition.