It was painted by Flemish artists between 1474 and 1480 and the reptilian demons, torturing sad souls for eternity, are a stern reminder of the wages of sin. It’s missing its central section, knocked through to give access to a more recent chapel at the base of the bell tower. Sadly, that means that God, the judge of the Last Judgement, is no longer to be seen.
At the other end, surrounding the choir is a Gothic rood screen, carved out of limestone, housing dozens of statues in niches. By the central doorway, you can make out Adam trying to cover himself, facing Eve, striking her model’s pose.
Before the Counter Reformation, access to this part of the church was only available to the clergy, keeping out the common people who could only hear, but not see, the celebration of mass.
Son of Albi - Toulouse-Lautrec
Albi’s most famous son is the painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and the house where he was born in 1864 still exists, although it’s closed to the public. What you can see is an almost complete collection of his works in the Palais de la Berbie, next to the Cathedral.When he died in 1901 of alcoholism and syphilis, nobody was interested in his paintings and they struggled to find a home. Fortunately one of his cousins was Mayor of Albi at the time and the Toulouse Lautrec museum opened in 1922.
Lautrec had bone disease, probably a result of inbreeding in his family, and broke his right thigh bone when he fell off a chair when he was 13. Recuperating in the Pyrenees, he tripped and broke the other thigh bone and both never completely healed. He started drawing and painting during long periods of convalescence and went to Paris to study with Bonnat and Cormon. During this time, he had his first encounter with a prostitute and started painting the low life of Montmartre.
"Toulouse-Lautrec probably influenced Van Gogh and Picasso was a great admirer"