We have been here many many times and have posts on several locations of Toulouse, However, I like to tell you more updating text and links and older pictures on the Musée des Augustins of Toulouse !! Of course, this is in the Haute Garonne department 31 of the region of Occitanie, and my belle France. Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The Musée des Augustins, one of the first museums done after the decree of 1792 during the French revolution, open in 1795 with a huge amount of portraits of France and Europe, especially coming from France and Italy, but also from Spain and the Netherlands, as well as sculptures from Roman to Gothic times and has a bust of Rodin and Claudel. The museum is the fine arts museum of Toulouse. A wonderful museum to see, me think
Before being assigned to the museum, the buildings were a house of the order of the hermits of St. Augustins. In its current location, inside the walls of the city, the Augustinian convent of Toulouse was built in 1309 with the authorization of Pope Clement V. It was transformed into a museum after the suppression of religious orders in the French revolution. The first collections are composed of revolutionary seizures and works from the Royal Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture of Toulouse. In 1804, the museum and the School of Arts settled in the east wing of the small Renaissance cloister. The School of Fine Arts leaves the Augustinians for the Daurade in 1892. During his visit to Toulouse in 1808, Napoleon I confirmed the sale of the convent to the city for museological purposes. In 1812, the museum received from Napoleon 30 new paintings (Dutch, Flemish, Italian and French) including the Reception of the Duke of Longueville in the order of the Holy Spirit of Philippe de Champaigne.
The Musée des Augustins brings together in a prestigious setting important collections of painting and sculpture from the early Middle Ages to the early years of the 20C, including a collection of Romanesque capitals and Gothic sculptures. During your visit, do not miss the colony of gargoyles which has taken up residence in the cloister! Various salons are upstairs where sculptures and European schools of painting from the 17C to the 19C are represented, with some great signatures such as Vigée-Lebrun, Murillo or even Delacroix. In addition, many tours and workshops are offered to visitors, children and families.
The garden of the Musée des Augustins museum has parcels composed on the plan of the gardens of the abbey of St. Gallen in Switzerland which is the reference plan used for the monastic buildings of the medieval West. This one is divided into four parts. Each zone has its own utility: each of the 112 plant species is distributed according to its function. First of all, the central garden is mainly decorated with flowers and allows to make bouquets to decorate the altars. It can include roses and lilies, but also violets, nasturtiums , acanthus and periwinkles. The second part, the Herbularius, otherwise known as the “Garden of Medicinal Plants”, is located next to the doctor’s home and serves it to cultivate the plants he needed for his remedies. Then, the Hortus or “vegetable garden”, located near the kitchens, is composed of vegetables and herbs used to feed the religious. It also follows the strict plan of the Abbey of St. Gallen. Finally, the Arboretum or Fructum, which is usually on the side of the cemetery, is the orchard. The garden has fruit trees and shrubs used for feeding and flowering the garden with among others apples, cherries, pears, and cassis.
The renovation work consists first of all in the reconstruction of the walls separating the chapel and the sacristy in the eastern wing. Beginning in 1975, the surface of the exhibition halls and the restoration of the convent were increased. Finally a new entrance is built in the south-east by recovering the portal of the chapel of the Black Penitents, formerly rue Saint-Jérôme. The new layout of the old church has enabled the museum to have a remarkable classical German organ designed by Jürgen Ahrend and decorated by Pierre Belin. It was inaugurated in 1981 and it is still possible today to listen to concerts every Wednesday night in the museum’s church.The construction site carry out of the two glass roofs built at the end of the 19C according to plans by the architect Eugène Viollet-Le-Duc. This project should make it possible to increase the luminosity of the Salon Rouge, where the most beautiful works of the museum are exhibited. Major work has also been carried out to improve the accessibility of the site to all audiences and in particular to people with reduced mobility. There is an elevator that will take you to the upstairs painting rooms. New fire safety has been put in place to protect the reserves on the top floor.
The official Musée des Augustins : https://www.augustins.org/fr/le-lieu
The Toulouse tourist office on the Augustins museum : https://www.toulouse-visit.com/musee-des-augustins/toulouse/pcumid031fs00061
There you go folks, another dandy in my pink City of Toulouse, and lovely territory of many memories from and with the family over the years. Again, very nice area ,hope you enjoy the post on the Musée des Augustins as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 