Toulouse-Lautrec and Albi

 October 24, 2021

Toulouse-Lautrec and Albi

 We departed Rocamadour this morning and drove about three hours to Albi, the birthplace of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and the site of a museum with the largest collection of his works in the world.  We entered Albi alongside the Tarn River and the 11th century bridge:

 


We had lunch at a local restaurant and then began our visit to the Toulouse Lautrec Museum.  Our guide, Reuben, had prepared us on the ride to Aldi with a short biography of T-L’s life, with special attention to the fractured legs he had as an adolescent and the probability that he had a genetic bone disease, as there was much inbreeding in his family.  The three doctors on our trip concur that it was probably osteogenesis imperfecta.  In any case, his legs never grew properly, and he was misshapen, which probably was responsible for much of his life path.  We had a wonderful docent at the museum who spent about 90 minutes with us, taking us through the life and works of this remarkable artist.  Here’s a portrait of him done by Maxime Dethomas:


He showed early promise as an artist; here’s a work done at the age of 18:


Ultimately, he became best known for his posters promoting the Moulin Rouge in Paris.  This early one was printed about 30,000 times:

 


Immediately adjacent to the museum is an enormous brick church, the St. Cecelia Cathedral, dating to 1282, and said to be the largest brick building in the world.  From the outside it looks like a fortress.  


There’s a complicated history, involving the Cathars, a group which broke away from the Church and resulted in the only Crusade within Europe, a Crusade against the Cathars.  There’s much more information here:  https://www.cathar.info/ and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albi_Cathedral

The interior of the church is as spectacular as the exterior is not:

 


The choir loft is ornate:

 


And a Last Judgement fresco is scary:

 


The organ is massive:

 


We drove on to Toulouse and checked in to our hotel.  Tomorrow will be a light day concentrating on Toulouse, and we’ll get our COVID tests in preparation for our trip home on Wednesday.  Tuesday to Carcassonne!

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