The Musee Gustave-Moreau was actually Moreau’s own home. His father was an architect and designed the lower floors, which acted as the living quarters. After his parents’ deaths, Moreau moved into the home and lived there until his own death in 1898.

These rooms have been preserved as they were when Moreau lived here. They are tiny and every inch of wall space is covered in paintings. The feel is distinctly claustrophobic. After examining the first two floors, my expectations for the top two floors were low, as I was expecting more of the same. I was wrong.

As soon as you climb to the top of the stairs, the space comes alive. The room is enormous, just one room for the entire floor, with really high ceilings and bright sunlight streaming in from the large windows.

This room, and the similar one above, were Moreau’s art studios. He created the rooms to best display his artwork, and had them built them at his expense. Over the course of his life, Moreau produced more than 8,000 paintings, watercolors and drawings, many of which can be seen here.

Moreau begins with a sketch (hundreds of which can be seen in giant folders on the far wall), paints over it and then draws a new design over that. This a technique I hadn’t seen before and one I absolutely love.

Sometimes the subject’s facial features are highly detailed, and sometimes they are left out altogether. Oftentimes, large sections of canvas will be left unpainted, revealing only the sketch marks beneath.

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