Located in the Old Episcopal Palace of the 17th century, classified as a historical monument, the Ingres-Bourdelle Museum houses the collections of two famous children of Montauban, the painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle.
Created in 1820, it has been enriched over the years and was inaugurated in 1968 as the Musée Ingres after donations from the latter, including 54 old paintings, all the works from his studio and his famous violin.
In 1877, a museum of decorative arts and a second archaeological museum were installed in the basement.
On the first floor, Bourdelle's sculptures are honored, including some thirty portraits, the "Bust of Beethoven", the "Archer Herakles", a major work of the artist representing Hercules performing one of his twelve labors, and the sets for the Champs-Élysées theater.
Six rooms on the second floor are devoted to Ingres. There are large compositions revealing the influence of Antiquity and Raphael, but also early works.
The room of the "Black Prince", Edward Plantagenet, Prince of Wales, a vestige of the castle built by the English during the Hundred Years War, houses the Gallo-Roman archaeological collections.
Two rooms are reserved for French and foreign ceramics from the 18th and 19th centuries, notably the Ardus pharmacy pots and the famous Montauban theriac pot.
The basement, where the museum's exhibitions regularly take place, presents contemporary works from the second half of the 20th century (Olivier Debré, Zao-Wou-Ki, Vieira da Silva...).
After three years of renovation the museum reopened its doors at the end of 2019.
Enlarged, modernized and digitized, the museum is now spread over 2700 m2 with new spaces, improved accessibility, a new museography, a sumptuous conservation cabinet housing Ingres' drawings, an entire floor dedicated to the work of Bourdelle, magnificent rooms for temporary exhibitions...
It was during this transformation that the museum changed its name to the Musée Ingres Bourdelle.
Ingres Bourdelle Museum
19, rue de I'Hôtel-de-ville,
82000 Montauban.
Tel : 05.63.22.12.91
museeingres@ville-montauban.fr
https://museeingresbourdelle.com/
