Nicolas Tournier (1590-1639) has been represented at the museum since the institution’s founding; his great religious compositions painted in Toulouse during the ten last years of his life are part of our collections. The acquisitions of St. Paul and The Soldier in 1991 are indicative of the painter’s Roman work, dating between 1619 and 1626 but undoubtedly begun earlier. Here one finds an example of the value of the scientific study of works when they enter a public collection: An inscription was discovered on the back St. Paul which proves that the two canvases were painted in Italy for Bernard de Reich, Languedoc treasurer and patron of Tournier.

Works at the museum by Antoine Rivalz (1667-1735), head of the Toulouse School in the early 18th century, represent all the genres in which he worked (ancient history, allegory, portrait, religious painting). However, recent acquisitions cast new light on the artist, proving his skill in mythological painting and serving as evidence of the sketches and repainted compositions found in his abundant works.

The Death of Cleopatra dates from the first decade of the 18th century, when the painter definitively moved to Toulouse after his long Roman stay. This purchase is the most important contribution to the museum’s entire Rivalz ensemble.

Two other Rivalz works worthy of note: The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew and Saint Michel Crushing the Rebel Angels, the museum’s latest purchase, acquired by pre-emption at a public sale in Paris in December 2008.

Joseph-Marie Vien (1716-1809), a native of Béziers, was a forerunner of neoclassicism. His work was already present at the museum: Academie and Cupid Fleeing from Slavery, one of his most famous paintings. He specialised in scenes with young women in neo-Greek interiors, which won him commissions from important persons, such as du Barry.

In 1756, he painted an initial version of Sweet Melancholy for Madame Geoffrin, of which our painting is a second version signed and dated 1758, painted by the artist to echo the success of the first painting.