The Augustins Museum, a jewel of the heritage of Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), continues its major work. In 2025, its cloister and its columns will be subject to extensive restoration. A crowdfunding campaign was launched on November 15, 2024.
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The second museum created in France after the Louvre, it is the emblematic heart of Toulouse’s heritage. The Augustins Museum continues its renovation. In total, around fourteen million works are being carried out. First phase: the repair of the glass roofs which were no longer waterproof. The second phase, in progress and which will open in a year, is the complete overhaul of the entrance to the museum for a welcome worthy of the name and complete accessibility. Third phase, now underway and for which a call for patronage has been launched: the repair of the cloister and its 160 columns.
“Safeguard the only fully preserved 14th century cloister in the South-West of Francee”, it is under this title that a call for donations and patrons is now online on the website of the Heritage Foundation. Objective set for this crowdfunding campaign: 200,000 euros. It must be said that the restoration is d scale and represents a significant cost: five million euros financed by the State and local authorities.
“The weight of heritage for local authorities is very important. In Toulouse, there are around 200 historic or classified monuments. And there are a hundred of them owned by the cityrecalls Francis Grass, deputy mayor of Toulouse in charge of culture. You see the burden that this represents. This is why we are very grateful to the patrons.“
Among the first patrons: twelve companies united within the circle of the Musée des Augustins with a donation of 20,000 euros. “When we learned about this restoration project, we said very unanimously in relation to all the participating companies, we must be part of this.“, tells us Claude Scavazza, the president of the circle.
Humidity, pollution… The columns and capitals are covered with black crusts which eat away at the marble and stone of the galleries.
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© FTV
The circle of patrons has the habit of acquiring works and donating them to the museum. And this new gift is intended “an impulse“. A way to encourage donations from businesses and individuals.”Our 20,000 euros will not be enough for this restoration. Others must follow the exampleestimates Claude Scavazza. We are truly in pure heritage and if everyone does not mobilize, there is a risk of degradation and even disappearance of this jewel, this showcase that is the Augustins museum.“
Water infiltration, atmospheric pollution. In 700 years of existence, the cloister and its 160 columns bear the marks of time gone by. The columns and capitals are covered with black crusts which, beyond being unsightly, eat away at the marble and stone of the galleries, endangering the integrity of the monument.
The renovation work promises to be delicate. “We are doing testsexplains the museum director, Laure Dalon. Because it is not a question of restoring the columns by damaging the material. You have to be very careful.” The methods of intervention chosen for this work will also be validated by a multidisciplinary scientific commission made up of academics, restorers and curators, notably from the Louvre Museum.
Closed to the public since 2019, the Augustins Museum will reopen its doors at the end of 2025. Toulouse residents will then discover a new cloister garden, “designed in connection with the visit route, but also in a subtle relationship with the square“, we are promised.
