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"The Other Fragonard" is a book published in 1980, it was the first time a photographer was allowed to enter The Horror Room of the Veterinarian Museum of Maison Alfort near Paris, where the remaining pieces of Fragonard's Ecorches were displayed but hidden to the public. The "other"Fragonard (cousin of the famous painter) spent nine years preparing thousands of anatomical items for view. Most of them were destroyed during The French Revolution in 1789 because they were perceived as a symbol of the Bourgeoisie's decadence. You are looking at human corpses as Art Objects ...
However, some of these items were used as tools in the education of medical practitioners, while others were considered pieces of art. The items intended for teaching focused on a specific apparatus highlighted by actual dissection of specific human bodies. Easily recognizable, they are very different from the other ecorches because they are elaborately posed as Death could have caught them. These skinned bodies, such as The Horseman of the Apocalypse and The Man with a Mandible, are highly impressive. Fragonard chose to stage Death, using the human body as artistic material according to his creative fantasy. And now, for the first time ever, the images of this extraordinary photo sessions are being offered to the public as Fine Art Prints in a limited edition. |
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