Damien's "Natural History" series, the works involving the animals preserved in formaldehyde, are probably his most famous, and definitely his most controversial. But his own attitude towards the animals is emotionally distant. They are "so deadened by their transparent aqua tombs that it becomes difficult to reconcile what they look like with the reality of what they really are. In this respect, they are as distant from cows or pigs as the filling of a Big Mac or BLT". One such example is Mother and Child, Divided, a piece from his exhibition "Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away" for which he was awarded the Turner Prize in 1995. Damien says, "I want to make people feel like burgers. I chose a cow because it was banal. It's just nothing. It doesn't mean anything. What is the difference between a cow and a burger? Not a lot... I want people to look at cows and feel 'Oh my god', so then in turn, it makes them feel like burgers."

It is for this work that Hirst won the Turner Prize in 1995, and as such is the best known of several similar pieces by the artist featuring preserved animals.