Musée Fragonard

Unusual Paris Museums and Galleries

The Musée Fragonard shows visitors major collections of anatomical "pieces" portraying all systems making up the living body. It contains Honoré Fragonard’s famous "Ecorchés" (he was the cousin of the painter and the first professor of anatomy at the Ecole nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort in 1766). These anatomical figures represent a compromise between anatomical science and "the wish of the artist to show the body in a different light".

Fragonard’s specialty was the preparation and preservation of skinned cadavers. In all he made about 700 examples. Only 21 models said to have been made by Fragonard remain; all of them can be seen in the third room of the museum.

Website page describing and showing (small) photos of some of the "Ecorchés"

Coloured skulls and a display of ‘monstres’

Besides the unique Fragonard pieces (check out the Cavalier on the horse and Samson holding the jawbone of an ass), this museum has a collection of coloured skulls, various other bodily systems, and last but not least, a display of ‘monstres’ (you don’t want to know).

You can rent an audio commentary which is worth having, and if you want you can even get a DVD of Fragonard’s famous "Ecorchés" (just the thing to show your friends AFTER dinner…).

An amusing 1996 article about the Musée Fragonard (not much has changed!):
Two Heads, Six Legs – All True
Inside Out Full-size at the Fragonard Museum

Musée Fragonard
Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Maisons-Alfort
7 avenue du Général de Gaulle
94704 MAISONS-ALFORT Cedex
tel:
01 43 96 71 72
fax: 01 43 96 31 62
www.vet-alfort.fr

Bus : 24, 103, 104, 107, 125, 78, 325
By subway : 8, Ecole vétérinaire de Maison Alfort
Train : D gare "Maisons-Alfort Alfortville"
Open:
Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2 pm – 5 pm, weekend from 10 am to 5 pm during the school term. Guided visits can be arranged by appointment.
Entry: Adult : €3.50 Child 8-12: €2.50 Less than 8: free
Languages spoken : German, English, French.

Next page : Musée Guimet