Musée Fragonard

The Fragonard museum is an anatomy museum set in the École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort, at Maisons-Alfort (Val-de-Marne). Its collections go back to the founding of the school, in 1766, and recall that animal anatomy long served veterinary teaching.

You discover collections of casts describing the anatomy of domestic animals, skeletons, spectacular lesions bearing witness to diseases often vanished today, as well as the famous écorchés of Honoré Fragonard, first cousin of the painter and a renowned anatomist. About twenty écorchés are shown, including the impressive "Horseman of the Apocalypse", a man mounted on the back of a galloping horse. The rooms partly reproduce the 1902 layout.

The visit comes with an audio guide in French or English. It can be startling: some pieces may upset the sensibilities of the youngest. The museum also welcomes groups, by booking.

The whole, unique in the world for its richness, lets you see animals in a different light and interests lovers of science, the history of medicine and curiosities as well as the simply curious.

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