(in English, ''Saint-Raymond museum'') is the archeological museum of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, opened in 1892. The site originally was a

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

, and in later constructions was a hospital for the poor and pilgrims, prison, student residence, stables, barracks and presbytery, eventually becoming a museum in 1891. It is housed in the former Saint-Raymond university college dating from the sixteenth century that borders

Basilica of Saint-Sernin The Basilica of Saint-Sernin (Occitan: ''Basilica de Sant Sarnin'') is a church in Toulouse, France, the former abbey church of the Abbey of Saint-Sernin or St Saturnin. Apart from the church, none of the abbey buildings remain. The current churc ...

. The building has been renovated and reconstructed several times. It preserves and exhibits archaeological collections from

protohistory Protohistory is a period between prehistory and history during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted the existence of those pre-literate groups in their own writings. For example, in ...

to the early Middle Ages, mainly from the Celtic, Roman and early Christian periods, much from the Toulouse region.

History of the building

Originally a Christian

dating from the 4th century was located here and stretched on either side of the Roman road close to the

. Between 1075-1080, on the site of the present building was a hospital for the poor and for pilgrims travelling the Way of St. James on the

French Way The French Way ( gl, Camiño francés, es, Camino francés, , literally the "way of the Franks") is the GR 65 and the most popular of the routes of the Way of St. James ( es, Camino de Santiago), the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Co ...

from

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

via Toulouse, founded by

Raymond Gayrard Paul Joseph Raymond Gayrard (3 September 1807 – 1855) was a French sculptor born in Clermont-Ferrand, France. He studied at an early age under his sculptor/engraver father Raymond Gayrard, and was a student of François Rude as well as David ...

and financed by the

Count of Toulouse The count of Toulouse ( oc, comte de Tolosa, french: comte de Toulouse) was the ruler of county of Toulouse, Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the kingdom of the Franks, Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ru ...

. By the 13th century, at the time the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (french: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the Frenc ...

was created the house had been acquired by the

inquisitor An inquisitor was an official (usually with judicial or investigative functions) in an inquisition – an organization or program intended to eliminate heresy and other things contrary to the doctrine or teachings of the Catholic faith. Literall ...

Bernard de Caux Bernard de Caux, or in Latin Bernardo or Bernardus de Caucio, birth date not known, died in Agen on 26 November 1252, was a Dominican friar and medieval inquisitor. His activities mainly took place in the region of the County of Toulouse between 1 ...

, who used it as a prison for heretics.1944 L'Auta - Collège Saint-Raymond
- ''L'Auta'' January 1944 at Gallica p.10 In 1249 the inquisitor offered the house to the abbot of Saint-Sernin in gratitude for his services to the defence of the faith, specifying that the College of Saint-Raymond should be reserved for poor students, as recorded in a 1250 act. The college continued in that purpose until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. After a great fire, at the end of the 13th century, Martin de Saint-André,

bishop of Carcassonne The Diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne (Latin: ''Dioecesis Carcassonensis et Narbonensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Carcassonne et Narbonne'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese co ...

, rebuilt on the same site. The current building, dating to 1523, was the work of the mason Louis Privat, who would later build the

Hôtel de Bernuy The Hôtel de Bernuy in rue Léon Gambetta, Toulouse, France, is a Renaissance ''hôtel particulier'' (''palace'') of the 16th century built by the mason Louis Privat for the wealthy woad merchant, Jean de Bernuy. This townhouse is considered a m ...

for a rich

woad ''Isatis tinctoria'', also called woad (), dyer's woad, or glastum, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family) with a documented history of use as a blue dye and medicinal plant. Its genus name, Isatis, derives from ...

merchant, Jean de Bernuy. It was financed in part by

Martin de Saint-André Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

(fr), prior of the college and his father,

Pierre de Saint-André Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

(fr). The city of Toulouse bought the building in 1836 to use for a variety of functions, such as stables and barracks. In 1852-1853, during the redevelopment of the Place Saint-Sernin, it was the only building to escape demolition, due to the intervention of

Alexandre Du Mège Louis Charles André Alexandre Du Mège or Dumège, (The Hague (Netherlands) 5 December 1780 – Toulouse 6 June 1862), was a French scholar, archaeologist and historian. Life and work Du Mège was born in The Hague on 5 December 1780. His fath ...

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

and

Eugène Viollet-le-Duc Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (; 27 January 181417 September 1879) was a French architect and author who restored many prominent medieval landmarks in France, including those which had been damaged or abandoned during the French Revolution. H ...

. Between 1868-1871, it was restored by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, who removed the remains of the demolished chapel and built a fourth corner turret, added two interior walls and numerous

crenellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

chimneys that accented the medieval appearance of the structure. Viollet-le-Duc also built a

neo-gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

house in the old courtyard of the college, that became a garden. The building then served as a presbytery to the Saint-Sernin Basilica until 1890. It is one of the rare surviving examples of Toulouse university architecture from the late Middle Ages. File:Toulouse - Place du Peyrou - Wallaert.jpg, Basilique Saint-Sernin and Saint-Raymond College connected by the Peyrou arch in 1760. Drawing by Pierre Joseph Wallaert. File:Toulouse , collège Saint-Raymond avant la restauration - Fonds Trutat - MHNT.PHa.814.103.jpg, Stereoscopic view of the college by Eugène Trutat circa 1860 showing traces of the old chapel before the restoration by Viollet-Le-Duc File:Toulouse. Presbytère de St Sernin.jpg, 1880sː the presbytery of the Saint-Sernin Basilica became Saint-Raymond Museum in 1892 File:Toulouse - St Raymond.jpg, The renovated building stands next to the basilica of Saint-Sernin.

History of the museum

By a municipal decree of 14 April 1891, the building became a "museum of ancient and exotic decorative arts" and was inaugurated on 24 April 1892 by Toulouse mayor

Camille Ournac Camille Ournac (31 August 1845 – 24 February 1925) was a wine merchant, miller and French politician. In his political life he was member of the Departmental council (France), Departmental council, socialist mayor of Toulouse where he initiat ...

in the presence of

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social dem ...

, city councilor. It was dedicated for "small antiquities", small items (ethnographic objects, art objects, furniture, coins and medals and archaeological objects) from all periods. It thus served to unburden the

Musée des Augustins The Musée des Augustins de Toulouse is a fine arts museum in Toulouse, France which conserves a collection of sculpture and paintings from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. The paintings are from throughout France, the sculptures represe ...

, that was still under renovation, of objects it was impossible to display there. The building was adapted to its new functions by the architect Arthur Romestin, when stairs, partitions and cupboards were altered to create larger exhibition spaces. Several additional windows were created to provide better light. The museum was thoroughly reorganized by a new curator,

Émile Cartailhac Émile Cartailhac (15 February 1845 – 26 November 1921) was a French prehistorian, one of the founding fathers of the studies of the cave art. He is perhaps best remembered because of his involvement with the Altamira paintings. Cartailhac was ...

, who took over in 1912. In 1935 Henri Ramet (fr) named it the Cluny museum in Toulouse. The ''Society of Friends of the Saint-Raymond Museum and ancient art'' was founded in 1939. The museum was again rebuilt in 1946-1950 by Robert Mesuret, listed as a

Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

on 11 August 1975 and its upper parts were restored in 1981-1982 to return them to their condition before the intervention of Viollet-le-Duc. In 1949, under the direction of Robert Mesuret, it became the archeological museum of Toulouse, receiving the collections of Antiquity and the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

of the city of Toulouse. Due to its age, between 1978 and 1982, a new rehabilitation project of the entire museum was launched under the direction of Yves Boiret, then chief architect of French Historic Monuments. The work began in 1981-82 with the refurbishment of the roof, that regained the appearance it had before the restoration by Viollet-Le-Duc and allowed the development of a second level below the roof. In the following years, among a lot of controversy, Boiret rehabilitates the nearby basilica of Saint Sernin. In 1980, the City of Toulouse acquired a neighboring building at 11 rue des Trois-Renards to relocate its offices, technical services and library, to provide and additional 2,500 m² of exhibition space for the public. Between 1992 and 1994, a building was constructed in the Bourrassol district of Toulouse to house the reserve collections. A new redevelopment study was carried out under the direction of Bernard Voinchet, the chief architect of Historic Monuments in 1992, and in 1994 a complete reorganization was arranged by Dominique Baudis, Mayor of Toulouse. Between 1994 and 1996, archaeological excavations were undertaken to uncover the necropolis of Saint-Sernin, near the tomb of the martyred saint

Saturnin Saint Saturnin of Toulouse ( la, Saturninus, oc, Sarnin, french: Saturnin, Sernin, ca, Serni, Sadurní, gl, Sadurninho and pt, Saturnino, Sadurninho, eu, Satordi, Saturdi, Zernin, and es, Saturnino, Serenín, Cernín) was one of the ''" ...

, and his burials dating to the 4th century. A lime kiln dating from the 5th or 6th century was also discovered, and with about a hundred sepulchres and severals inscriptions viewable today. After more than four years renovation the museum reopened to the public on Saturday, 8 May 1999 having been restored to its original 1523 appearance, while a part of the ancient early Christian necropolis, dating from the fourth and fifth centuries, has been excavated. Galerie des Empereurs-Musée des Augustins.jpg, ''Gallery of the Emperors'' in the cloister of the Musée des Augustins circa 1842 Musée des Augustins, objets archéologiques de Martres-Tolosanes.jpg, Antiquities of Martres-Tolosane at the Musée des Augustins 1890 (Lavaur) Méditation (1893) - Henri Rachou - Musée des Augustins.jpg, Henri Rachou's painting ''Meditation'' showing the cloister of the Musée des Augustins where the early Christian

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

were displayed before their transfer to the Musée Saint-Raymond

Museum curators

* Ernest Roschach (1892-) * Casimir Destrem * Henri Rachou *

Emile Cartailhac Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

(1912-1921) * Jules Fourcade (1922- * Eugène-Humbert Guitard (1935-1948) * Robert Mesuret (1949-1972) * Jacqueline Labrousse (1972-1985) * Daniel Cazes (1985-2009) * Evelyne Ugaglia (2010-2018) * Laure Barthet (2018-

Transfer and distribution of Toulouse collections

* 1892: monumental works remained at the Museum of the Augustins and small objects were transferred from the Musée Saint-Raymond * 1931: the ethnographic collection was transferred to the Natural History Museum of Toulouse * 1950: the ancient

lapidary Lapidary (from the Latin ) is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary is known as a lapidarist. A la ...

collections were transferred from the Musée des Augustins to the Musée Saint-Raymond * 1961: transfer to the Paul-Dupuy Museum of collections after the

Merovingian period The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

Collections

Formation

The original collection originated from the collections of the Académie des sciences, inscriptions et belles-lettres de Toulouse (fr), and the Royal Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, seized during the

giving birth to the Provisional Museum of the Republic installed in the Augustinian convent of Toulouse in 1793. The sculptures, discovered in the ancient

Roman villa of Chiragan The Roman villa of Chiragan is a Roman villa located in Martres-Tolosane (France). The villa was located on the banks of the river Garonne, on the road to Toulouse and was occupied between the 1st and 4th centuries. The buildings spread over an ...

during the excavations conducted between 1826 and 1830 by

, who became curator in 1832, were incorporated in the Museum of Antiquities arranged in the galleries of the cloister of the museum. The public can discover a remarkable ensemble along the Gallery of the Emperors and the Gallery of La Venus that can only be compared to the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. Founded in 1831, the

Archaeological Society of the Midi of France Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

(fr) contributed to the enrichment of collections allowing the acquisition of major pieces for the collection, such as the torques of Fenouillet and portraits of Béziers, in addition to receiving other offerings or donations. In 1893 the museum gave up an important collection to the city for an annuity. Collectors have benefited from the enrichment of the museum with the donations of Antoine Bibent of objects from Pompeii, in 1831, the Count of Clarac donated Greek and Etruscan vases in 1843, Edward Barry gave small bronzes, and in 1862 the state deposited part of the Campana collection. Many other acquisitions were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The curator, Jules Fourcade acquired many pieces of ironwork from Toulouse and under the direction of Robert Mesuret, from 1961, after several movements of the collections, the museum mainly specialises in archeology and has become the Museum of Antiques of Toulouse. Excavations carried out by the Regional Service of Archeology (SRA) contributed greatly to the increase of the collections during the years 1980-1990.

From prehistory to eleventh century

For the protohistory, the museum has bracelets,

fibulae The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

and axes from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, and bracelets and leg rings in gold from Fenouillet and Lasgraisses for the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

and more precisely from the time of the Volques Tectosages (fr). The rest of the Iron Age collections come from the Cluzel, Estarac and Vieille-Toulouse sites. File:Musée Saint-Raymond - 2016-06-18 - Inv. 30045 - 1791.jpg, 1st century limestone votive altar (Toulouse) Musée Saint-Raymond, Amphores de Vieille-Toulouse.jpg, ''Amphores of Vieille-Toulouse'' ; types 1A and 1B found in a funerary well in Vieille-Toulouse dating from the end of the 2nd century BC. (Toulouse) Musée Saint-Raymond, Anthropomorphic statue - D 71 1 149.jpg,

Anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

statue, 44 - 25 av. J.-C., site of Vieille-Toulouse. Several civilizations of the Mediterranean are represented: Cypriot and Etruscan pieces, Greek and Italian vases from the eighth to the first century BC and Hellenistic terracotta figurines. The museum has a very important Roman collection, with ornate

oil lamps An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. Th ...

, sigillated vases from

Montans Montans is a Communes of France, commune in the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department and Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of southern France. Geography Situated between Lisle-sur-Tarn and ...

and

La Graufesenque La Graufesenque is an archaeological site 2 km from Millau, Aveyron, France, at the confluence of the rivers Tarn and Dourbie. As Condatomagus (market of the confluent), it was famous in the Gallo-Roman period for the production of high qu ...

, keys and figures of bonzes,

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s from the end of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

from Sigognac, Granéjouls, Saint-Rustice and Saint-Pierre-des-Cuisines, many epigraphs with a set of votive altars. The very rich collection of Roman busts were discovered partly in the ruins of the

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

at Chiragan in

Martres-Tolosane Martres-Tolosane (; oc, Martras Tolosana) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department, Southwestern France. Martres-Tolosane station has rail connections to Toulouse, Pau and Tarbes. Geography The commune is bordered by nine other communes: ...

, and partly in Béziers in 1844, which makes the museum's collection the second largest after the Louvre. The busts includes many emperors and their families but also, as yet unidentified, magistrates, soldiers, men, women and children. The discoveries of the villa Chiragan also cover reliefs of the

Labours of Hercules The Labours of Hercules or Labours of Heracles ( grc-gre, οἱ Ἡρακλέους ἆθλοι, ) are a series of episodes concerning a penance carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later romanised ...

, statues and busts of the Greco-Roman deities. File:L'Image et le Pouvoir - Buste d'homme cuirassé-2.jpg, Roman bust of an armoured man about 130 AD. File:Tête d'Auguste - MSR - Inv. Ra 57.jpg, Head of

Augustus of Prima Porta Augustus of Prima Porta ( it, Augusto di Prima Porta) is a full-length portrait statue of Augustus, Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. The marble statue stands tall and weighs . The statue was discovered on April 20, 1863, du ...

File:Toulouse Saint-Raymon four a chaux1.jpg,

Lime-kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone ( calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is : CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can take p ...

(Toulouse) Hercule et le sanglier d'Erymante – Musée Saint-Raymond Ra 28 d.jpg, Hercules and the

Erymanthian Boar In Greek mythology, the Erymanthian boar ( Greek: ὁ Ἐρυμάνθιος κάπρος; Latin: ''aper Erymanthius'') was a mythical creature that took the form of a "shaggy and wild" "tameless" "boar" "of vast weight" "and foaming jaws". It wa ...

(Toulouse) théodosienne de la villa romaine de Chiragan - Musée Saint-Raymond Ra 82.jpg , Unknown theodosian (375-425 AD), sometimes called

Placidia Placidia () was a daughter of Valentinian III, Roman emperor of the West from 425 to 455, and from 454/455 the wife of Olybrius, who became western Roman emperor in 472. She was one of the last imperial spouses in the Roman west, during the Fall ...

The museum holds an important collection of coins of Greek, Gallic, Iberian, Roman, Byzantine and Merovingian origins. The early Christian and early medieval collections include sculptures, inscriptions, lamps, liturgical vases, ceramics, jewelry, fibulae and

belt buckle A belt buckle is a buckle, a clasp for fastening two ends, such as of straps or a belt, in which a device attached to one of the ends is fitted or coupled to the other. The word enters Middle English via Old French and the Latin ''buccula' ...

s from

Visigothic Spain The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic successor states to ...

Lauragais The Lauragais () is an area of the south-west of France that is south-east of Toulouse. The Lauragais, a former county in the south-west of France, takes its name from the town of Laurac and has a large area. It covers both sides of the Canal ...

and Ariège department. Aureus The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver ''denarii'' (sin. denarius). The ''aureus'' was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th cen ...

History of the building

History of the museum

Museum curators

Transfer and distribution of Toulouse collections

Collections

Formation

From prehistory to eleventh century

Museography

Original
museography Museology or museum studies is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and education. Terminology The w ...

1950s

Since 1999

Attendance

Other missions

References

External links

History of the building

History of the museum

Museum curators

Transfer and distribution of Toulouse collections

Collections

Formation

From prehistory to eleventh century

Museography

Original museography Museology or museum studies is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and education. Terminology The w ...

1950s

Since 1999

Attendance

Other missions

References

External links

Original
museography Museology or museum studies is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and education. Terminology The w ...