Dioramas: Historical illusions
The museum’s historical dioramas are time capsules, preserving snapshots of a seemingly real natural world. They are not, however, exact representations of reality, but carefully crafted artificial worlds, designed to captivate the public, like today’s TV series or virtual reality.
But they were also intended to be educational: for the first time, animals could be seen in a natural-looking habitat, rather than in bare, often overfilled display cases. Even today, the remaining dioramas “Animals of Africa”, “Animals of Switzerland” and “Animals of the North” still work their magic.
T 3 A 1
Original sketches by the taxdermist and dioramist Georg Ruprecht from the 1920s demonstrate his skill and his determination to recreate “his” animals. As no 3 D computer modelling programs were available at that time, the physical dimensions had to be reconstructed with the aid of templates, drawings and models.
T 3 A 2
An illusion of distance is created by the interplay of foreground and background, and the transition from the “rocks” to the painted savannah. The impending drama — the old lion will be driven out — is reconstructed and portrayed in great detail. Viewing the historical scene from a different perspective transforms it into a new diorama.