Hidden under multi-paneled Symbolist murals by French artist Odilon Redon were sketches that he had drawn directly on the walls of the 11th-century Abbaye de Fontfroide

October 27, 2026 2:49 p.m.

A conservator examines an illustration hidden beneath a mural by Odilon Redon. Valentine Chapius / AFP via Getty Images

Since 1911, a stunning series of murals by the French Symbolist artist Odilon Redon have graced the library walls of the Abbaye de Fontfroide , an 11th-century Cistercian monastery in Narbonne , France.

Framed by wooden bookshelves, Le Jour ( Day ) and La Nuit ( Night ) are each more than 20 feet long and depict sweeping landscapes, animals, humans and vivid floral arrangements. Above the door, a third mural, Le Silence ( Silence ), shows a figure reminiscent of a monk with a finger raised to his lips, surrounded by yellow blooms.

Earlier this year conservators removed the panels of the murals for the first time ever, to be loaned to an exhibition in Paris.…