Hidden Murals Found Behind French Monastery Masterpieces

Imagine peeling back a famous painting and finding the artist's secret practice sketches waiting beneath.

That's exactly what happened at the 11th-century Abbaye de Fontfroide in southern France this year. When specialists carefully removed three massive murals by French Symbolist artist Odilon Redon for the first time since 1911, they uncovered vibrant drawings sketched directly onto the monastery walls.

"It was a great surprise, nobody imagined the existence of these sketches," says Alexandre d'Andoque de Sériège, the abbey's director. The colorful drawings appear smaller and more vibrant than the finished murals that covered them for 113 years.

Redon created the original murals for his friend Gustave Fayet, a wealthy wine merchant and art collector who bought the former monastery in 1908. Fayet wanted to transform the medieval religious space into a modern creative haven, funding renovations including art nouveau stained glass windows and commissioning artwork for the library.

The three murals, called Day, Night, and Silence, are each more than 20 feet long. They show sweeping landscapes, animals, humans, and vivid flowers framed by wooden bookshelves. The third piece depicts a monk-like figure with a finger to his lips, surrounded by yellow blooms.

Researchers believe Redon drew the hidden sketches during a 10-day visit in March 1910. He was painting the actual murals in Paris but needed to visualize how they would look in the library space.

"It amuses just to imagine Redon painting them on the wall," d'Andoque de Sériège told reporters. Creating a full fresco would have required Redon to stay much longer at the abbey and involved grueling physical work.

Why This Inspires

This discovery reminds us that even master artists needed practice and planning. Redon cared so deeply about his work that he traveled to the monastery and sketched directly on the walls to get his vision right.

The unexpected find also gives art lovers a rare window into creative process. Usually hidden behind the finished murals and only viewable twice monthly on special tours, both the sketches and the completed artworks are now on display together in Paris.

The murals are part of "Gustave Fayet: Collector-Designer" at Fondation Louis Vuitton, an exhibition showcasing Fayet's collection of over 250 works. The show includes 10 canvases by Vincent van Gogh, 78 by Paul Gauguin, and pieces by Edgar Degas, Paul Cézanne, and Henri Matisse.

Though little known today, Fayet was among the first to collect van Gogh, exhibit Picasso, and establish a Gauguin museum in his Paris home. His passion for art helped support struggling artists and brought their work to wider audiences.

Visitors have until March to see the newly exposed wall drawings before the murals return to their original home and cover them once again.