Les Vélins Du Muséum National D'histoire Naturelle

The building up of the vellum collection, a set of almost 7000 gouaches and watercolours depicting flowers and animals, dates back to the time during which observation and description were deeply part of nature sciences.

Gaston, Duke of Orléans, brother of King Louis XIII, began this collection. At his death in 1660, he owned several portfolios full of paintings on vellum, surveying flowers, rare plants and birds from his aviaries. The series was left to Louis XIV and drew the attention of Colbert, who convinced the king to go on with the collection. When the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle was created in 1793, the collection was transported to the new building to be continued. Because of the evolutions of methods and scientific thought, the production of the vellum collection began to slow down from the second half of the 19th century.

This unprecedented book, illustrated with beautiful pictures, studies for the first time the history and evolution of this collection.