Museum Specimen of Giant Clam Shell (II)

Museum Specimen of a Giant Clam Shell (II) is over eighty centimetres wide and nearly seventy centimetres high. Despite its realistic appearance, with a smooth, pearly inner surface and a porous outer one, its impressive size may raise questions about its authenticity.

Damien Hirst made this bronze shell, painting it for more verisimilitude. It belongs to a series of shells the British artist made for "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable", where his works were displayed as artefacts found on the seabed.

Museum Specimen of a Giant Clam Shell (II) was presented for the first time by the Pinault Collection during the 2017 exhibition "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable" at the Palazzo Grassi.