Natural History and Fine Arts - Châteaudun

Châteaudun is known for its fortified chateau but tucked in the town you'll find a little museum with some surprising contents.

The museum was created in 1899. It is in two parts: fine arts from France and China; and a taxidermied collection of 3000 birds and mammals from around the world from the Marquis de Tarragon, (a large part of the animals having been taxidermied by the Marquis himself and presented in displays which have been preserved til now); the other part brings together archeological collections, and paintings donated by the State.

There is also a separate room dedicated to Egyptian art. This room contains art and artefacts from royal tombs from 3100-2700 BC. There are two mummies, along with vases, arms, tools, jewellery.

In  addition, there is a local history room covering the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 which had a devastating effect on Châteaudun. It contains uniform pieces and paintings. To learn more about this war it's best to visit the Musée de la Guerre 1970 just a few kilometres away. https://francesbigadventure.blogspot.com/2019/07/franco-prussian-war-1870-museum.html

Another room shows a family home interior of the 19th century, while outside you will find a collection of merovingian sarcophagi, chimney plaques from the 18th century and a collection of mill stones.

The oriental art room contains porcelaines from the India Company, as well as No theatre masques, daggers, Chinese jewellery and also islamic arts such as chandeliers, vases, miniatures.

I was amazed at the taxidermied collection. It says it contains birds from all around the world, so I looked to see if there were any birds from New Zealand (originally a land of birds). Not a solitary one, which was disappointing but at the same time I was relieved that precious birds from NZ hadn't been killed to add to this amazing collection.

I found the taxidermied mammals very sad. They gazed mournfully out of their glass display cases: the sloth, the chimps and monkeys looked almost demonic.

What was particularly successful were the dioramas depicting local wildlife - the hares, rabbits, birds in thier natural environment. Even hunters would be hard-pressed to see these animals like that now. Many have virtually disappeared.

 The Egyptian exhibits were interesting in that the mummies were a little different to the ones we see in major museums or on TV. These ones were of lesser royalty. There was a lot of painted ornamentation rather than gold and precious stones. Precious little objects found in the tombs were not the flashy ones we've come to expect. They had a modest and intimate aspect. Perfume containers and combs were on display.

As you can see, for a small local museum there is surprising variety with some important pieces you would not expect to find. It really deserves a visit. Check ahead for opening times because these change depending on the season. www.ville-chateaudun.fr