Museum of Nature

I was one of the people who took a group of diplomats to visit the newly renovated Canadian Museum of Nature on Friday. On the left here is an artist's impression of its new look from the outside.

Most of our tour focussed on the history of the building, its architectural heritage and the sometimes unforeseen use to which it was put (for four years it was the Canadian parliament's headquarters even) but the staff seem proudest of its renovations, completed this year.

When you walk in, you can't help noticing the moose mosaic at your feet.

"...During the 1950s, a Roman Catholic-school group visited the museum through the main door, as was the practice back then. A nun with the group objected to the depiction of the bull's genitals and requested that something be done about it in order to protect the moral values of visiting children. Fearing negative publicity, the Museum covered the mosaic with a carpet. The mosaic remained hidden and all but forgotten until the early 1990s, when the atrium underwent restoration work and it was decided that the mosaic also be restored."

There's a diorama featuring a stuffed moose as well, in the Mammal Gallery on the second floor, the dioramas having a realistically painted background, done by an artist (Clarence Tillenius) who took his commission seriously, visiting the parts of Canada that were depicted, to observe the caribou, for example, migrating across Lake Athabasca. Our guide pointed out an interesting corner of the picture where the freezing water was painted blue; this is where the Slave River rapids begin, a dangerous place for canoes.

I am in two minds about the merits of taxidermy, especially after reading Yann Martel's strange, chilling novel, Beatrice and Virgil this year, but during my tour of the museum I was pleased to find in the Bird Gallery a stuffed hermit thrush that confirmed my tentative identification of the unfamiliar visitor to my garden last week.