Honoré Fragonard
Encyclopedia
Honoré Fragonard was a French
anatomist
, now remembered primarily for his remarkable collection of écorché
s (flayed figures) in the Musée Fragonard d'Alfort
.
Fragonard was born in Grasse
as cousin to painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard
. After studying surgery, in 1759 he obtained his license and in 1762 was recruited by Claude Bourgelat
, founder of the world's first veterinary school in Lyon
. There Fragonard began to make his first anatomical exhibits. In 1765 Louis XV
initiated a veterinary school in Paris, first resident at rue Sainte Appoline but in 1766 moving to the suburb of Alfort (today the École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort
in Maisons-Alfort
). There Fragonard served as the school's first professor of anatomy for six years, preparing thousands of anatomical pieces, but was expelled in 1771 as a madman. He subsequently continued to prepare dissections in his home, gaining income by selling his works to the aristocracy.
Fragonard was careful in his dissections and preserved the results via means never divulged, but which may have been based on those of Jean-Joseph Sue
. His pieces were often prepared for theatrical effect rather than scientific exhibition, as can be seen in the surviving pieces in the Musée Fragonard d'Alfort
. In 1793, along with his cousin, he became a member of the Jury national des arts, and in the following year the Commission temporaire des arts. In this position he collected his work at Alfort for an envisioned Office National d'Anatomie; but it never materialized and most of his work was dispersed. Despondent, he subsequently was named director of anatomy at the newly-created École de Santé de Paris, but died in Charenton
on April 5, 1799.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
anatomist
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
, now remembered primarily for his remarkable collection of écorché
Écorché
An écorché is a figure drawn, painted, or sculpted showing the muscles of the body without skin. Renaissance architect and theorist, Leon Battista Alberti recommended that when painters intend to depict a nude, they should first arrange the muscles and bones, then depict the overlying...
s (flayed figures) in the Musée Fragonard d'Alfort
Musée Fragonard d'Alfort
The Musée Fragonard d'Alfort, often simply the Musée Fragonard, is a museum of anatomical oddities located within the École Nationale Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort, 7 avenue du Général de Gaulle, in Maisons-Alfort, a suburb of Paris...
.
Fragonard was born in Grasse
Grasse
-See also:*Route Napoléon*Ancient Diocese of Grasse*Communes of the Alpes-Maritimes department-External links:*...
as cousin to painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Jean-Honoré Fragonard was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. One of the most prolific artists active in the last decades of the Ancien Régime, Fragonard produced more than 550 paintings , of which only five...
. After studying surgery, in 1759 he obtained his license and in 1762 was recruited by Claude Bourgelat
Claude Bourgelat
Claude Bourgelat was a French veterinary surgeon.Bourgelat was born at Lyon. He was the founder of veterinary colleges at Lyon in 1762, as well as an authority on horse management, and often consulted on the matter...
, founder of the world's first veterinary school in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
. There Fragonard began to make his first anatomical exhibits. In 1765 Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
initiated a veterinary school in Paris, first resident at rue Sainte Appoline but in 1766 moving to the suburb of Alfort (today the École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort
École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort
The École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort is a school of veterinary medicine located at 7, avenue du Général de Gaulle, Maisons-Alfort, Val-de-Marne, Île-de-France, France...
in Maisons-Alfort
Maisons-Alfort
Maisons-Alfort is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the National Veterinary School of Alfort, the most renowned veterinary medical school in France...
). There Fragonard served as the school's first professor of anatomy for six years, preparing thousands of anatomical pieces, but was expelled in 1771 as a madman. He subsequently continued to prepare dissections in his home, gaining income by selling his works to the aristocracy.
Fragonard was careful in his dissections and preserved the results via means never divulged, but which may have been based on those of Jean-Joseph Sue
Jean-Joseph Sue
Jean-Joseph Sue was a French surgeon and anatomist. His son, also named Jean-Joseph Sue , was a noted anatomist and the father of novelist Eugene Sue ....
. His pieces were often prepared for theatrical effect rather than scientific exhibition, as can be seen in the surviving pieces in the Musée Fragonard d'Alfort
Musée Fragonard d'Alfort
The Musée Fragonard d'Alfort, often simply the Musée Fragonard, is a museum of anatomical oddities located within the École Nationale Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort, 7 avenue du Général de Gaulle, in Maisons-Alfort, a suburb of Paris...
. In 1793, along with his cousin, he became a member of the Jury national des arts, and in the following year the Commission temporaire des arts. In this position he collected his work at Alfort for an envisioned Office National d'Anatomie; but it never materialized and most of his work was dispersed. Despondent, he subsequently was named director of anatomy at the newly-created École de Santé de Paris, but died in Charenton
Charenton (asylum)
Charenton was a lunatic asylum, founded in 1645 by the Frères de la Charité in Charenton-Saint-Maurice, now Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France....
on April 5, 1799.
Honoré Fragonard in fiction
- Honoré Fragonard appears in a brief but important role in Susanne Alleyn's historical mystery novel The Cavalier of the Apocalypse (2009).
- Fragonard is the central character of the French novel Le Cousin de Fragonard (2006) by Patrick Roegiers.
- Fragonard and one of his works is mentioned in the novel AusterlitzAusterlitz (novel)Austerlitz is the final novel of W. G. Sebald, published in 2001. The book received the National Book Critics Circle Award.-Plot summary:...
(2001) by W.G. SebaldW. G. SebaldW. G. Maximilian Sebald was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was being cited by many literary critics as one of the greatest living authors and had been tipped as a possible future winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature...
.