A beautiful small garden in the Museum of the City of Lisbon, where the amazing (and a little frightening) giant porcelain creations of Portuguese 19th-century artist Rafael Bordallo Pinheiro bask in the sun.

Scattered in huge and unlikely scenes amongst the trees, bushes and live peacocks are oversized snakes, lizards, toads, bees, shellfish, mushrooms, cats – all made of china. While much of the artwork is obscure, one piece is well-known – the gold medal that Bordallo Pinheiro won in the Paris International Exhibition of 1889.

Directly across the Campo Grande from the City Museum is the Rafael Bordallo Pinhiero Museum dedicated to the artist himself.