Prado hosts carnival of animals to show its natural history museum roots

A golden eagle looms menacingly over the entrance hall, ready to attack; a bull from the Duchy of Veragua stands majestically in front of a Rubens; a black mamba sits coiled up next to one of Goya's macabre black paintings.

These unexpected guests at the Prado form part of a new exhibition, opening later this month, that will see the gallery in Madrid return to its roots as a natural history museum. In 1785, when King Charles III of Spain ordered the architect Juan de Villanueva to design the building that today houses the Prado, it was intended to show off the royal family's Natural History Cabinet. Only later, under his grandson, King Ferdinand VII, did it become the world-famous art gallery.

It was this history that Spanish artist Miguel Ángel Blanco wanted to evoke by installing some of the finest objects from the National Museum of Natural Sciences alongside the gallery's more famous works. "It occurred to me that I could create a contemporary cabinet, an artistic intervention that also showed off the natural history in the paintings that hang in the Prado," he said.

Blanco spent three years investigating the collections of both museums, as well as those of the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Museum of the History of Pharmacy and his own work, to select each piece and find a setting for them in the Prado. The perfectly preserved bull, for example, is reflected back at itself by the white bull in Rubens' The Rape of Europa. "But it also completely changes the setting of the hall, and the way you see the Prado," said Blanco. The statue of the Emperor Tiberius, standing behind the bull, now appears to take on the aspect of a matador, rather than a master of ancient Rome. "And it seems as if the bull has always been here, it's perfectly integrated with the room. When you are dealing with artistic masterpieces, I had to bring masterpieces from natural history," said Blanco.

The 22 items, ranging from skeletons to stuffed birds and an Aztec mirror made from obsidian, are dotted around the Prado, setting off the stories told in the paintings and sculptures which they accompany. Some dominate the room, others are more discreet, only catching your eye if you look up to the ceiling, where you might find a dolphin floating over a statue of the goddess Venus.

"It was a great privilege for me to work with these beautiful pieces," said Blanco, whose own artwork is mostly about the natural world. "The exhibition will be here for six months, alongside the permanent collection, so I didn't want it to be too invasive. I want them to reflect and respect each other."

Thus a collection of meteorites, including the first ever to be discovered in Spain, sits next to Rubens' The Birth of The Milky Way. Rubens' work depicts the divine origins of the universe, which, according to mythology, was created when Juno spread her breast milk throughout the galaxy.

In front of the Concert of Birds by Frans Snyders is a stuffed bird of paradise from Indonesia, accompanied by the sounds of birdsong. Blanco takes great delight when visitors to the gallery are distracted from the Rembrandt that hangs on the next wall by the bird calling out.