Museum of Science, Boston

Exhibit [Return to listing page]
Green Wing, Level 1

Get a feel for New England's natural environment with these classic dioramas. In addition to these windows on wide-ranging landscapes, the exhibit's model birds, casts of feet, antlers, beaks and other touchable elements make this an interactive experience for curious visitors.

Observe deciduous woods, salty beaches, ocean cliffs and other New England habitats, and see how they look, sound, feel, and smell. Visitors can hear the sound of a beaver smacking its tail against the water in alarm, and understand how the adaptations of New England wildlife resemble human tools.

Represented here are the Katahdin woods, the Maine coast, Crane's Beach, Wildcat Mountain, New Hampshire's Squam Lake, and the Green Mountains of Vermont. All are located in New England within a 150-mile radius, but they are quite varied in their climate, vegetation, and wildlife.

The backgrounds of these and many of the Museum's dioramas were painted by the famous artist Francis Lee Jaques. He was famous for his ability to blend his background paintings seamlessly with the three-dimensional foregrounds of dioramas. He painted actual locations rather than generalized habitats.

Jaques' wife, so the story goes, would sneak into the hall while he was on his lunch break and paint little gremlins in hidden locations of his backgrounds. Look for her handiwork in the Crane's Beach diorama.