Specialists have discovered colorful drawings beneath three murals, or large wall paintings, by French artist Odilon Redon. The discovery took place at Fontfroide Abbey, an 11th-century religious building in Narbonne, France. Redon drew the images directly on the library walls.
The murals, titled Day, Night, and Silence, had covered the drawings since 1911. Earlier in 2026, specialists removed their panels for the first time so they could travel to an exhibition in Paris. Some hidden sketches resemble figures in the finished murals, although they are smaller and more colorful.
Researchers are unsure whether the drawings were tests for the murals or an abandoned attempt to paint directly on the walls. The abbey's director believes Redon probably made them during a ten-day visit in March 1910 to imagine how his work would look in the library. His friend and collector Gustave Fayet, who bought the abbey in 1908, had commissioned the paintings.
The three murals are now at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris as part of an exhibition about Fayet. The exhibition ends on March 8, 2027, after which the paintings will return to their original positions. Visitors therefore have only until March to see the newly revealed drawings before they are covered again.
