Musee des Augustins

The city of Toulouse's museum of fine art, the Musée des Augustins, is situated right in the middle of the city. Since 1793, it has housed collections of artwork from the early Middle Ages, including paintings and sculptures. The most recent works are those created in the 1940s.

The museum's collections span all of the key eras in the development of western art because of the variety and high caliber of the pieces.

With the unique collection of Romanesque sculpture of its sort in the entire world as well as numerous Gothic masterpieces, the Musée des Augustins is especially rich in sculpture. They also feature a remarkable collection of sculptures from the 19th century.

Collections:

The founder of the museum, Jean-Antoine Chaptal, a forerunner of cultural devolution, was concerned about advancement and wanted to make sure that each collection included a compelling selection of paintings from all the masters, genres, and schools. Toulouse received works by Guercino, Pietro Perugino, Philippe de Champaigne, and Rubens in a series of shipments that culminated in 1811.

The collections number more than 4,000 pieces, and their main source is the French Revolution-era confiscation of church property as well as the private collections of émigrés, particularly the paintings of Toulouse's cardinal de Bernis and Louis-Auguste le Tonnelier, baron de Breteuil.

Sculptures:

The sculpture collection of the museum is largely the result of the efforts of antiquarians and museum curators like Alexandre du Mège, who was able to save sculpture from the regular destruction of religious structures that characterized the 19th century. The cathedral of Saint-Étienne, the basilica of Saint-Sernin, and the priory of Notre-Dame de la Daurade all contain significant examples of 12th-century Romanesque sculpture.

The new Romanesque sculpture presentation is created by Jorge Pardo. It also features numerous locally made sculptures from the 14th and 15th centuries, eight clay figures from the Chapelle de Rieux, which was constructed in the Couvent des Cordeliers around 1340, and gargoyles from the same convent.