AUGUSTINIAN MUSEUM
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France's oldest museum, with collections spanning a wide period from medieval times to the century
The Toulouse Museum of Fine Arts is housed in the former Augustinian convent, built in the 14th century. The exhibition rooms are organized around the beautiful cloister (chapter house, chapel and church), a masterpiece of southern Gothic architecture miraculously preserved from the urban planning ambitions of the 19th century. Note the alignment of gargoyles from the former Cordeliers convent.
Created in 1793, it is one of the oldest museums in France. Its collections cover a wide period from the medieval period to the 20th century, with nearly 4,000 works.
On the first floor, the medieval rooms present an exceptional collection of lapidary from religious buildings destroyed during the 19th century. Not to be missed: the room of Romanesque capitals (vestiges of the cloisters of Saint-Sernin, La Daurade and the cathedral of St-Etienne), the very beautiful Virgin of Notre-Dame de Grasse (1470) or the chapel of Rieux (14th century sculptures).
The church and salons on the first floor are dedicated to the various schools of European painting and sculpture. Among the masterpieces:
- 17th and 18th centuries: paintings by Rubens, Murillo, Vigée-Lebrun, Houdon...
- in the spectacular Salon rouge, evoking the Grands Salons of the Second Empire: 19th century French painting represented by Delacroix, Ingres, Benjamin-Constant. As for the beginning of the 20th century, Manet, Vuillard, Toulouse-Lautrec rub shoulders with the remarkable sculptures of Rodin, Claudel, Marqueste or Falguière.
Modernization work is underway.
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Un grand merci, et toutes mes félicitations, à Marthe notre guide. Des explications claires et complètes m'ont permis de 'voyager' au travers des pans d'histoire et des œuvres qu'elle nous a commentés.
Le temps est passé trop vite, je serais bien resté plus longtemps à l'écouter tellement c'était vivant et passionnant.
Dépêchez vous d'y aller avant la fermeture le 16 octobre 2023, et n'oubliez pas de réserver pour cette visite commentée dont le prix (3€) est vraiment dérisoire et en plus on nous prête des écouteurs pour bien l'entendre malgré les visiteurs alentours .