Musk Ox (Diorama)

Historical Note

The Musk Ox diorama is located on the first floor of the Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals. The diorama was completed in 1941 and was restored during the Hall’s renovation project of 2011-2012. The scene depicts a site known as The Bellows on Northeast Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. A herd of musk oxen hunkers down to wait out a snowstorm. The valley in the background is typical of the Canadian high Arctic -- a treeless terrain known as a tundra where the ground thaws for just a month or two in summer. The background was painted by Francis Lee Jaques. The foreground artist was G. Frederick Mason. The taxidermist was Robert Rockwell. Rockwell created the animals using old skins from an earlier Arctic expedition led by Robert E. Peary. (Windows on Nature, 2006)

Topics

• AMNH Dioramas