Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

In 1901, the city of Le Blanc received a collection of naturalized birds, gathered between 1824 and 1866 by Jean Mercier-Génétoux, notary at Argenton-sur-Creuse. This passion for ornithology left more than 1,200 specimens at his death in 1866, accompanied by a manuscript detailing their provenance. The collection, called "real cultural monument" by Raymond Rollinat, was first installed at the White Town Hall, under the impetus of naturalists Rollinat and René Martin.

In 1989, the remaining 819 birds (representing 280 species, of which 223 are local) were transferred to the Naillac Castle to integrate the Brenne ecomuseum. A major restoration was undertaken with the support of the Ministry of National Education: 281 birds in 1989, and 505 in 2000. Despite the disappearance of 2 specimens and the spread of 31 others, which are too degraded, the collection retains an exceptional scientific value, illustrating the Indre bird in the 19th century.

The museum, which was controlled as a natural science institution in the 20th century, received the label Musée de France in 2003. It is now inseparable from the Naillac Castle, a medieval site renovated in the 15th and 18th centuries, which also houses Gallo-Roman elements and a classified Romanesque fireplace. The accuracy of the original inventory and the meticulous preservation of the cabinets of the era make it a unique testimony of regional natural history.

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