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Key figures

Origin and history

The Musée des Augustins de Toulouse was founded in the French Revolution. Created by decree of 23 December 1793 and inaugurated on 27 August 1795, he settled in the former convent of the Augustins, which became national after the suppression of monastic orders in 1789. This convent, founded in 1310 under the permission of Pope Clement V, was a major religious place until its decommissioning. The first collections, from the revolutionary seizures and works of the Royal Academy of Toulouse, made it a "Musée du Midi de la République", one of the first public museums in France, opened shortly after the Louvre.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the museum benefited from the State's shipments under the decree Chaptal (1801), which distributed confiscated works in the conquered territories between fifteen French cities. Toulouse received more than 600 paintings between 1802 and 1811, including major works by Perugin, Rubens and Guido Reni. In 1808, Napoleon confirmed the definitive transfer of the convent to the city for museum use. The architect Jacques-Pascal Virebent turned the church into a " temple of the arts" in the years 1820-1830, before Urbain Vitry completed the arrangements in 1831. The museum was enriched with gifts and bequests, such as that of Dr. Louis La Caze in 1869.

The second half of the 19th century marked a turning point with the renovation entrusted to Eugène Viollet-le-Duc from 1873. The latter designed a monumental staircase and restructured the building, while the School of Fine Arts left in 1895. In the 20th century, major restorations (1950-1980) gave the church its original Gothic appearance, with a unique nave and a star vaulted bedside. The museum, closed for work since 2019, is expected to reopen gradually from December 2025 after a complete modernization (accessibility, scenography, restoration of cloisters).

The museum's collections are exceptional, with more than 4,000 pieces covering painting and sculpture from the twelfth to the twentieth century. The Romanesque section, from the Basilicas Saint-Sernin and the Dauride, is among the richest in the world for its capitals and sculptures. The French (Rigaud, Vigée Le Brun, Toulouse-Lautrec), Italian (Perugin, Guerchin) and Nordic (Van Dyck, Rubens) schools are widely represented. The Gothic sculpture, including the works of the Chapel of Rieux and the statue of Notre-Dame de Grasse, illustrates the southern artistic evolution.

The museum garden, recreated in 1995, is inspired by medieval monastic plans with four dedicated spaces: a leisure garden, a Herbularius (medicinal plants), a vegetable garden (Hortus) and an orchard (Arboretum). These plots, organized according to the model of the Abbey of Saint-Gall, cultivate 112 plant species useful to monks. The cloister, restored in the 21st century, houses columns and capitals of the 12th century, while recent archaeological excavations have made it possible to better understand the history of the site.

The Augustinian Museum also plays a role in the restitution of works stoned during the Second World War. Seven tables classified as MNR (National Museums Recovery) are kept there pending restitution, such as The Hunt of Giovanni di Francesco. In 2005, the Grand Canal in Venice of Francesco Guardi was returned to the heirs of Anna Jaffé, a victim of looting during the Vichy regime. These approaches are part of an active policy of preserving and transmitting artistic heritage.

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