At the Natural History Museum, fossils and skeletons are being moved

In a few days, the GPAC, a jewel of Art Nouveau inaugurated in 1898 in Paris and already closed to the public since mid-January, will be totally inaccessible for 18 months.

By summer 2027, the renovation of this iconic gallery at the Museum will be complete. The new GPAC will be virtually identical to the old one – notably with its famous narrow aisles – except for a new access point for people with reduced mobility.

Meanwhile, a studious hive of activity is underway on the different levels of the site amidst the display cases, fossils, skeletons and jars of formaldehyde, in order to prepare the ground for the scaffolding.

Catering

At the bottom, there is a guinea pig skeleton in poor condition for which the closure comes at just the right time: moving it has revealed the fragility of its structure.

Bending over the small skeleton, osteological preparator Guillaume Gérard and collections manager Cécile Colin-Fromont made the diagnosis: its head had become detached, as had a leg, and several ribs were missing. It would require restoration.

"This is a specimen that comes from Peru, it dates from the mid-19th century," the researcher confides. "Let's go!" calls her colleague Alexander Nasole, in charge of museum projects, taking the fragile little structure on a trolley towards the wings.

In addition to the restorations carried out internally, "12 specimens will be sent for restoration outside the Museum, to restorers specializing in +naturalia+, natural history objects," Christine Lefèvre, director of natural history collections at the MNHN, explained to AFP.

Like this little guinea pig, few of the gallery's 5.600 specimens have been moved since the opening of this iconic venue.

In the comparative anatomy gallery on the ground floor, "most of the specimens were already there either at the time of the Cuvier galleries (opened in 1806), or prepared for this gallery (1898)," explains Christine Lefèvre.

At the first level, in paleontology, "there has been more movement because the arrival of new large specimens required a reorganization of the space," she continues, looking at the dinosaur fossils.

At the invertebrate level, Marie-Béatrice Forel, scientific head of paleontology, and two technical agents of the collections are working on a very specific task: they are looking at "the list of specimens that the scientists of the Museum want to take out to study".

There are 80 available to them, listed "for scientific projects, or for projects of works which have already been launched and which must continue".

Those who have forgotten to make their request in time will "possibly have the opportunity to be redirected to specimens in the collection reserves", they say.

So, during the construction work, the research continues.

Vibrations

In total, 622 specimens will be moved to the center of the halls, near the large structures - including the famous rorqual - which cannot be dismantled or moved.

The work will mainly focus on the perimeter (windows, doors...).

The team is working to minimize the "risks of vibrations that will occur," explains Christine Lefèvre.

"We also take great care with the specimens hanging on the large wooden panels, such as the elephant skulls. Some are fragile and have to be taken down." This will be accomplished after several hours of effort.

Nearby, technicians are bracing the skeleton of a baby elephant to minimize vibrations.

Delicately, they lift its legs, to slide underneath a rigid plate rather than foam, in order to prevent the bones from sinking in and the overall structure from deforming.

After the work is completed, the rooms will be better insulated from variations in outside temperatures.

In winter, it is too cold, and in summer, too hot. However, "the skeletons of marine mammals, for example, are very fatty. When it is very hot, they continue to ooze from the joint extremities," recalls Christine Lefèvre.

That's the magic of this place more than 100 years after its opening: its specimens still "move".