It wasn’t long ago that cadaver ‘plastinator’ Gunther von Hagens was grabbing headlines for his incredible cadaver sculptures and stirring up debate regarding the ethical use of human remains. However he was not the first man to use human remains as an artistic material. In the 18th century French anatomist Honoré Fragonard used relatively primitive preservation technique to create haunting and artistic anatomical displays. While Fragonard’s work rivals anything Gunther von Hagen has ever done, today it resides in the Fragonard Museum, which is hidden away on the third floor of a veterinary school on the outskirts of Paris.

Fragonard was prolific despite the tedious nature of his preservation techniques. Despite the fact that every blood vessel required wax injections and that every surface, muscle and nerve needed to be individually coated in wax, in nine years Fragonard created thousands of anatomical items to be used in education or, on occasion, displayed as pieces of art.

Only 21 of his models remain today. Nearly 250 years after their creation, few show many signs of age.



Read more about the life Honoré Fragonard and his museum here.

image: (Above) 'Dancing foetuses' circa 1766-1771. (Top) Wax-injected human head circa 1766-1771.

Labels: art, medical