A History of Museum Victoria   Pictorial Timeline     The McCoy
Hall Victorian Fauna Dioramas: at least some things stay the
same  John Kean  In the twentieth century, the diorama came to
symbolise museums. A child could visit a museum, gaze in
fascination at a group of animals in a miraculously detailed
landscape, then revisit it several decades later to stand in
exactly the same place, see exactly the same scene and feel
comforted - 'at least some things stay the same'.  Eastern
Diorama mm008200 Children standing in front of the Eastern Grey
Kangaroo diorama, one of the first completed in 1940. The Loch
Ard Gorge is recognisable in the background. In 1985 this
diorama was restored and fringe lilies and New England
honeyeaters added. Photographer: David Loram.  Dioramas are
enigmatic artefacts hovering enticingly between reality and
illusion. The surreal stillness of the recreated natural
environment paradoxically shrouds the very chaos of nature that
the diorama purported to represent, and which today rende