The second-most popular object at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History has found a new home. The 150-year-old “Lion Attacking a Dromedary” diorama has been restored, studied, and will now be in a new location in the main hallway of the museum. Previously titled “Arab Courier Attacked by Lions,” the museum acquired the diorama in 1898.
From left, Marty Elm, Linsly Church and Abigail Beddall remove wood braces used to support the diorama “Lion Attacking a Dromedary” as it is moved to its new location in the main hallway of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland on Jan. 24, 2017. The 150-year-old diorama was previously in the second-floor Wildlife Hall, but the museum wanted to make the diorama, the second-most famous object at the museum, more visible.Abigail Beddall, a fabricator and shop manager, works to clear debris from the “Lion Attacking a Dromedary” diorama at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland on Jan. 24, 2017. The diorama, the second-most famous object at the museum, was created in 1867 by French naturalist Edouard Verreaux and acquired by the museum in 1898.Conservator Gretchen Anderson searches her travel box for an object she needs to clean the “Lion Attacking a Dromedary” diorama at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland on Jan. 24, 2017.From left, Linsly Church, a conservation tech, conservator Gretchen Anderson and volunteer Ruth Fauman-Fichman work to figure out how to drape the cape worn by the courier in the “Lion Attacking a Dromedary” diorama at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland on Jan. 24, 2017. The diorama depicts a saber-bearing North African courier on a camel’s back being attacked by Barbary lions.From left, Lou Renda, Marty Elm, conservator Gretchen Anderson, back right, and Ruth Fauman-Fichman work to unpack and clean the “Lion Attacking a Dromedary” diorama at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland on Jan. 24, 2017. The diorama was supported by wood braces as it was transported through the museum. The diorama will be on display around the corner from the grand staircase, where the crew was working.Ruth Fauman-Fichman, a volunteer for the conservator, works to touch up the base of the 150-year-old “Lion Attacking a Dromedary” diorama at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland on Jan. 24, 2017.The head of the “Lion Attacking a Dromedary” diorama will be one of the last pieces re-installed after it is moved to its final location in the main hallway at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland on Jan. 24, 2017. Conservators discovered after doing CT and X-Rays of the diorama that the head was constructed from a human skull.Conservator Gretchen Anderson cleans debris from the “Lion Attacking a Dromedary” diorama at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland on Jan. 24, 2017. After restoration work, the 150-year-old diorama, originally on display in the second-floor Wildlife Hall, will now be located in the main hallway between the natural history museum gift shop and the Hall of Sculpture in the Museum of Art.
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