Stavanger Cathedral is said to have started construction of the cathedral around 1100. It was finished around 1150: the city of Stavanger counts 1125 as its year of foundation. The cathedral was dedicated to Saint Swithun, an early Bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. The church was initially the seat of the Diocese of Stavanger within the Roman Catholic Church until the Protestant Reformation. Stavanger was ravaged by fire in 1272, and the cathedral suffered heavy damage. It was rebuilt under Bishop Arne (1276–1303) at which time the Romanesque cathedral was enlarged in the Gothic style. In 1682,
Thomas Henry (patron of the arts) Thomas Henry (patron of the arts) Bon-Thomas Henry (1766 in Cherbourg, France – 1836 in Cherbourg) was a French painter and patron of the arts. After studies in his hometown, Henry was forced while traveling to take shelter during a storm at Bordeaux, where he settled and became a partner with a merchant who sent him to Saint-Domingue. He returned to France after the Haitian Revolution, and learned the restoration of paintings from fellow artists. He was a pupil of Jean-Baptiste Regnault. He augmented his skill in restoration with expertise learned during travels to Italy, Belgium, and England. This led