Montauban Travel Guide

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Most regional museums in France take pride in the findings from local archeological digs in their area. Montauban has a few fine ones. There are two excellent late Roman floor mosaics and earlier works : a Etruscan sarcophagus and a Roman one plus some Greek (or Etruscan) pottery, vases and other objects in cases, nicely displayed.

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Using a castle or palace is a fine place to site collections, if that is what you want as a museum. It is even better if the structure i can be preserved and not distract from and also provide ample lighting for the primary objects. The courtyard is decorated with several statues by Bourdelle. Although the upper floor has the least interesting art works (not Ingres or Bourdelle) it has a splendid ceiling. The palace was built on old military castle foundations which form the two lower under levels. The lowest was the Guard Room (The Black Prince’s Chamber) of 1369, vaulted and with two superb fireplaces. Here are archeologic finds of the area and a bronze bell. Above it is another vaulted room that seem to have been the kitchen or dining room with more recent ancient objects.

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A whole room on the ground floor is devoted to the sculptures of Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929), a native son of Montauban. He studied with Rodin and soon became an established sculptor. Two of his works are in town nearby and several more are in the courtyard (seen in other Tips). His work has the plasticity and grace of his master but are not imitations. He made dynamic busts and although he probably never met Ingres, there must have been late photographs of the old man to guide him in creating the one in the museum.

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If you use the Parking on the quay just south of the east end of the Pont-Vieux, you can see that its early 14C brick strength is supporting a mass of modern traffic. Immediately to the east, rises the 1664 Bishop’s Palace that now houses the Ingres Museum. Upward and onward from to the Quai Montmurat one encounters the Monument to the Combatants of 1870, a work the city commissioned from its native son Antoine Bourdelle in 1897. A little further on is the Square General-Picquard with another of his works “The Last Dying Centaur”. From here a short distance NE is the 14C fortified Church of St.-Jacques with an octagonal belfry of that century. By now it is evident that Montauban is sturdily built of red brick, like Toulouse and many other towns in the vicinity. This is confirmed after a few blocks north at the Place Nationale, the arcaded square of brick buildings that was the center of the original classic Bastide from which Montauban has sprung. Before returning to the Museum (the real reason for coming to Montauban), pass the undistinguished Cathedral built in the 18C. When we arrived they closed the door in our faces (11:30 AM) for a long noon siesta (3 PM), so we did not see their Ingres treasure “The Vow of Louis XIII”.. (poor planning).

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The collection occupies the main floor of the Bishop's Palace which is now named for the artist. Ingres (1780-1867) is often called the last Neo-Classicist, but he really a dispassionate Romantic (and a bit of a voyeur). He was a prodigious sketcher (greatly revered by Degas) and worked obsessively on these in preparing for (and modifying) his translations into canvasses. His emotional extensions of anatomy are thus believable. This sensitivity is carried over into his portraits (in his early years he survived on these, both sketches and oils). Later his approaches to subjects were immediately adopted by art photography. He trained with David, but suffered from his poor rural academic and religious education. He won the Rome prize and stayed there for 18 years becoming a devotee of Raphael (See here his portrait of him, which he probably made from sketches of the "School of Athens", and which he kept as a talisman). He gave the museum over 4000 sketches but only a few are shown in rotation. (The other can be seen privately with proper introduction). Ossian's Dream is the best known work here. (We seem to have lost the second one-"Roger Delivering Angelique"). There a few nudes, including male figures, many vigorous portraits, plus a collection of personal articles. The museum has many other sights.