Guillaume Grimoard was elected as Pope under the name of Urban V in 1362. He took advantage of a census in Gévaudan to charge one florin per household and added 20,000 for the construction of a cathedral in Mende. From Rome, he sent numerous relics like a thorn from the crown of Christ and a silver box containing the head of Saint Blaise. The monument also houses a silver-gilt statue of the Virgin crowned with pearls, two angels carried by six lions, and inlaid gold panels of the Virgin and Saint Veronica. A bronze statue of Urban V by sculptor Dumont faces his creation on the eponymous forecourt. Its face is that of a recumbent head preserved in the Calvet Museum in Avignon.