Musée Fragonard d'Alfort
Encyclopedia
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. It is open several days per week in the cooler months; an admission fee is charged.
The École Nationale Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort is one of the world's oldest veterinary school
s, and the museum, created in 1766 with the school, is among France's oldest. It opened to the public in 1991, and today consists of three rooms containing a large collection of anatomical
oddities and dissections, most of which date from the 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to animal skeleton
s and dissection
s, such as a piglet displayed in cross-section, the museum contains a substantial collection of monstrosities (teratology
) including Siamese twin lambs, a two-headed calf, a 10-legged sheep, and a colt with one huge eye.
The museum's most astonishing items are the famous "écorchés" (flayed figures) prepared by Honoré Fragonard
, the school's first professor of anatomy, appointed in 1766 and in 1771 dismissed from the school as a madman. His speciality was the preparation and preservation of skinned cadavers, of which he prepared some 700 examples. Only 21 remain; all are on display in the museum's final room. These exhibits include:
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...
, a suburb of Paris. It is open several days per week in the cooler months; an admission fee is charged.
The École Nationale Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort is one of the world's oldest veterinary school
Veterinary school
A veterinary school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, which is involved in the education of veterinarians. To become a veterinarian one must first complete a veterinary degree A veterinary school should not be confused with a department of animal science...
s, and the museum, created in 1766 with the school, is among France's oldest. It opened to the public in 1991, and today consists of three rooms containing a large collection of anatomical
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...
oddities and dissections, most of which date from the 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to animal skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
s and dissection
Dissection
Dissection is usually the process of disassembling and observing something to determine its internal structure and as an aid to discerning the functions and relationships of its components....
s, such as a piglet displayed in cross-section, the museum contains a substantial collection of monstrosities (teratology
Teratology
Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development. It is often thought of as the study of human birth defects, but it is much broader than that, taking in other non-birth developmental stages, including puberty; and other non-human life forms, including plants.- Etymology :The...
) including Siamese twin lambs, a two-headed calf, a 10-legged sheep, and a colt with one huge eye.
The museum's most astonishing items are the famous "écorchés" (flayed figures) prepared by Honoré Fragonard
Honoré Fragonard
Honoré Fragonard was a French anatomist, now remembered primarily for his remarkable collection of écorchés in the Musée Fragonard d'Alfort....
, the school's first professor of anatomy, appointed in 1766 and in 1771 dismissed from the school as a madman. His speciality was the preparation and preservation of skinned cadavers, of which he prepared some 700 examples. Only 21 remain; all are on display in the museum's final room. These exhibits include:
- The Horseman of the Apocalypse - based on Albrecht DürerAlbrecht DürerAlbrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
's print, it consists of a man on a horse, both flayed, surrounded by a crowd of small human foetuses riding sheep and horse foetuses.
- Monkeys - A small monkeyMonkeyA monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
, clapping, accompanied by another monkey holding a nut in hand.
- The Man with a Mandible - inspired by SamsonSamsonSamson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....
attacking the PhilistinesPhilistinesPhilistines , Pleshet or Peleset, were a people who occupied the southern coast of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age . According to the Bible, they ruled the five city-states of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with...
with an ass's jaw.
- Human foetuses dancing a jig - three human foetuses, arteries injected with wax.
- Goat chest - a goatGoatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
's dissected trunk and head.
- Human head - blood vessels injected with coloured wax; blue for the veins, red for the arteries.
- Dissection of a human arm - a teaching exhibit, with muscles and nerves separated, and blood vessels injected with coloured wax (blue for the veins, red for the arteries).