The Fragonard museum is one of the oldest museums in France. It was established in 1766 in the new veterinary school of Alfort, the second created in the world after Lyon 1762). The collections are made of more than 5.000 items and 4.200 of them are displayed to the public. The museum is made of four rooms ; the first one is devoted to normal anatomy and teratology with an amazing collection of colored plaster casts. Skeletons and paper maché models made by Auzoux are presented in the second room. The third one deals with old diseases that were very common during the XIXth century. And the fourth room is the cabinet of curiosities in which are presented the écorchés de Fragonard, an amazing collection of dehydrated bodies that were dissected by the first director of the school, and first professor of anatomy, Honoré Fragonard (1732-1799).

Holdings:

More than 5.000 objects in the collection. 4.200 displayed to the public. Some masterworks : the rider, and the horse holding a horse jaw, by Honoré Fragonard (prepared between 1766 and 1771) ; the anatomical and zoological models of Louis Auzoux, including the horse, the beatle, the fish... ; a collection of hundreds of colored casts made of wax or plaster.
The museum also preserve a collection of old books dealing with veterinary medicine : XVIth century : 130 titles ; XVIIth century : 310 titles ; XVIIIth century : 800 titles ; more than 3.000 titles from the XIXth century.

Subject Strengths:

Anatomical preparations made by Honoré Fragonard (1732 - 1766); History of Anatomy; History of Veterinary Medicine

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