Tours Butteart Museum

About

Those who do not know this was once a monastery would not be surprised to see a space where light, seeping through high ceilings and layers of stacked brick, offers a stillness that seems to stem from a church. This building, where medieval order harmonizes with modern depth, draws visitors into a concentrated span of time, as if a single space held the art of many generations. Paintings running along the walls stop visitors in their tracks, and the light and form, blending masterpieces of Impressionism with Italian Renaissance oil paintings, quietly assert their presence. A silence that seems as if it might collapse at the touch of a fingertip is a hallmark of this museum, and within it, visitors find themselves before long thoroughly steeped in the breath of art.