Art experts found hidden drawings at Fontfroide Abbey in Narbonne, France. The abbey is a religious building from the 11th century. French artist Odilon Redon made the colorful drawings directly on its library walls.
Three large paintings covered the drawings from 1911. Their names are Day, Night, and Silence. Earlier in 2026, experts took the paintings off the walls for the first time. They sent them to an art show in Paris and discovered the drawings underneath.
Some drawings look like parts of the finished paintings. But they are smaller and have more color. No one knows for sure why Redon made them. The abbey's director thinks he probably drew them during a ten-day visit in March 1910. Perhaps Redon wanted to see how his art would look in the room.
Redon's friend Gustave Fayet bought the abbey in 1908 and asked him to make the paintings. The paintings are now at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris for a show about Fayet. The show ends on March 8, 2027. The paintings will then return to the library, so visitors have only until March to see the drawings before the paintings cover them again.
