Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Fragonard Museum, integrated into the Alfort National Veterinary School in Maisons-Alfort, was founded in 1766, the year the school was founded in the former castle of Alfort. This institution, the second-largest veterinary school in the world after Lyon, was founded under the impetus of Claude Bourgelat, squire of Louis XV. From its opening, a "Office du Roy" was established, combining an educational vocation for students and a cabinet dimension of curiosities accessible to the public. This cabinet, a precursor of modern museums, presented animal and human anatomical preparations, reflecting the scientific debates of the period between natural and superficial anatomy.

In 1828, the museum was moved and renamed "collection cabinet", but its growing disorder led to the creation of a new museum in 1902, structured for teaching. The current buildings, completed in 1901, have since 1903 housed anatomical pieces organized according to a typical museography of the late 19th century. The museum gradually declined as an educational tool in the 20th century, but its historical aspect was preserved, offering today a unique testimony of past museum and veterinary practices. The 2007/2008 restoration restored its 1902 appearance, with its original colours and decors.

The museum is divided into four thematic rooms: comparative anatomy, skeletons and anatomical models, historical animal pathology, and a cabinet of curiosities housing the famous Ecorchés d'Honoré Fragonard (1766-1771). Among these works, "Le cavalier de l'Apocalypse" and "L'Homme à la mandible" illustrate Fragonard's technical genius, which used innovative methods of conservation (sweet tinted, resin varnish). These pieces, originally intended to impress and educate, symbolize the alliance between art and science in the Enlightenment century.

Open to the public since 1991, the Fragonard Museum has more than 4,200 pieces and in 2006 was awarded the label "Musée de France". A unique university collection to carry this title without association with a territorial community, it depends on the Ministry of Agriculture. With nearly 10,000 annual visitors, 20% of whom are foreigners, it perpetuates the memory of a pioneering institution, while offering a journey into the history of veterinary medicine and anatomy.

Major contributors include Honoré Fragonard, first professor of anatomy, as well as anatomists such as Philibert Chabert, Gabriel-Constant Colin, and Gustave Barrier. Their works, combined with those of preparers like Eugene Petitcolin, have shaped an exceptional collection, combining scientific rigour and aesthetics. The museum remains a place of fascination, where history, art and science intersect, in a preserved architectural setting.

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