Editing Cyclorama

{{Short description|Panoramic painting on the inside of a cylindrical canvas}}
{{for multi|the theatrical backdrop|Cyclorama (theater)|the album by rock band Styx|Cyclorama (album)}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
[[File:Cornell1902Panorama.jpg|thumb|right|400px| A cyclorama view of [[Cornell University]] from McGraw Hall embracing 360 degrees (1902)]]

A '''cyclorama''' is a [[panorama|panoramic]] [[image]] on the inside of a [[cylinder (geometry)|cylindrical]] platform, designed to give viewers standing in the middle of the cylinder a 360° view, and also a building designed to show a panoramic image. The intended effect is to make viewers, surrounded by the panoramic image, feel as if they were standing in the midst of the place depicted in the image.

==Background==
[[File:Philippoteaux painting Gettysburg Cyclorama.jpg|thumb|right| [[Paul Philippoteaux]] painting the [[Gettysburg Cyclorama]] circa 1883. From the archives of [[Gettysburg National Military Park]] ]]
Panoramas were invented by [[Irish ethnicity|Irish]] painter [[Robert Barker (painter)|Robert Barker]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Harrison|first=Nancy|date=7 August 2011|title=Everything Just So: Cycloramas, The North American Tour|url=https://www.chattanoogan.com/2011/8/7/206574/Everything-Just-So-Cycloramas-The.aspx|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-19|website=[[The Chattanoogan]]|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819204230/https://www.chattanoogan.com/2011/8/7/206574/Everything-Just-So-Cycloramas-The.aspx |archive-date=19 August 2021 }}</ref> who wanted to find a way to capture the panoramic view from [[Calton Hill]] in central [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]]. He subsequently opened his first cyclorama building in Edinburgh in 1787.

Cycloramas were very popular in the late 19th century.<ref name=":0" /> The most popular traveled from city to city<ref name=":0" /> to provide local entertainment – much like a modern movie.  As the viewers stood in the center of the painting, there would often be music and a narrator telling the story of the event depicted.  Sometimes [[dioramas]] were constructed in the foreground to provide additional realism to the cyclorama.  Most major cities had one;<ref name=":0" /> circular and hexagonal-shaped buildings were constructed in almost every major US and European city to provide a viewing space for the cycloramas.  For example, a 360° depiction of the land and naval [[Siege of Vicksburg|battles of Vicksburg]] was completed and first exhibited in [[Paris]]. This work by [[Lucien-Pierre Sergent]] and Joseph Bertrand traveled to [[New York City|New York]], [[Chicago]] and [[San Francisco]] and [[Tokyo]].<ref>[http://showcase.meijitaisho.net/entry/nihon_panoramakan_03.php  "Land and Naval Battles of Vicksburg, Panorama in Asakusa Park, Tokyo,"] c. 1891; retrieved 2011-06-03</ref> In 1885 the Philadelphia Panorama Company installed the "Battle of Chattanooga" in two units in Kansas City and Philadelphia, it was painted by [[Eugen Bracht]]. In 1892 a cyclorama was made of the 1876  "[[Battle of Little Bighorn]]."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Little Bighorn Cyclorama {{!}} Little Bighorn History Alliance ~ www.littlebighorn.info|url=https://lbha.proboards.com/thread/5455/little-bighorn-cyclorama|access-date=2021-08-19|website=lbha.proboards.com}}</ref> [[Buffalo, New York]] has a surviving cyclorama building from 1888 that has long since been converted to use as private offices.<ref>{{cite web |last1=LaChiusa |first1=Chuck |title=The Cyclorama Building |url=https://www.buffaloah.com/a/franklin/369/tc.html |website=Buffalo as an Architectural Museum |publisher=BuffaloAH..com |access-date=2 October 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Battle of Gettysburg Cyclorama, Pay Streak, Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, Seattle, 1909 (AYP 362).jpeg|thumb|Battle of Gettysburg Cyclorama building at the [[Alaska Yukon Pacific Exhibition]] in 1909]]
Hundreds of cycloramas were produced; however, only about thirty survive.

An extension of this concept into motion pictures was pioneered with the invention of the [[Cinéorama]] that debuted at the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|1900 Paris Exposition]]. This evolved into such formats as [[IMAX]] and [[Circle-Vision 360°]].

==''Ben-Hur'' dramatisation ==
The main action centerpiece of the 1899 play ''[[Ben-Hur (play)|Ben-Hur]]'' was the use of a live chariot race using real horses and real chariots set against a cyclorama. ''[[The Era (newspaper)|The Era's]]'' drama critic detailed how it was achieved by "four great cradles, 20ft in length and 14ft wide, which are movable back and front on railways". The horses galloped full-pelt towards the audience, secured by invisible steel cable traces and running on treadmills. Electric rubber rollers spun the chariot wheels. A vast cyclorama backdrop revolved in the opposite direction to create an illusion of massive speed, and fans created clouds of dust. The critic for ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'' described it as "a marvel of stage-illusion" that was "memorable beyond all else". ''[[The Sketch|The Sketch's]]'' critic called it "thrilling and realistic ... enough to make the fortune of any play" and noted that "the stage, which has to bear 30 tons' weight of chariots and horses, besides huge crowds, has had to be expressly strengthened and shored up".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/oct/08/theatre ''Guardian'' article: ''Ben-Hur, London, 1902''.  8 October 2003]. Accessed 2010-05-27</ref> It went on to inspire the multi-Oscar-winning [[Ben-Hur (1959 film)|1959 film adaptation of ''Ben Hur'']], starring [[Charlton Heston]] – featuring the key live chariot race.

==Surviving examples==
Some notable cycloramas are:
* [[Wocher Panorama|Wocher-Panorama]], depicting the city of [[Thun]]. On display in the [[Kunstmuseum Thun]]. 38 metres long by 7.5 metres high (Created by [[Marquard Wocher]] in 1814 it may be the oldest surviving example on display).<ref>[http://www.kunstmuseumthun.ch/de/thun-panorama/rundbild/ "Kunstmuseum Thun / Thun Panorama - Thun Panorama - Rundbild / Geschichte"] retrieved 2017-07-15</ref>
* Borodino Panorama, depicting the [[Battle of Borodino]] between [[Napoleon I of France]] and a Russian Army outside Moscow in 1812. On display in Moscow. 115 metres long by 15 metres high.
* Stalingrad Battle Panorama, depicting the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] between [[Nazi Germany]] army and the Russian Army in 1942–1943. On display in [[Volgograd]], Russia. 120 metres long by 16 metres high (the biggest canvas of Russia).
* [[Pleven Panorama]], depicting the [[Siege of Plevna]] in 1878, in [[Pleven]], [[Bulgaria]] - also known as the panorama with the world's biggest canvas. 115 metres long by 15 metres hing and 12-meter foreground.
* [[Racławice Panorama]], depicting the [[Battle of Racławice]] during the [[Kościuszko Uprising]] is on display in [[Wrocław]], [[Poland]]. 115 metres long by 15 metres high.
* [[Atlanta Cyclorama]], depicting the [[Battle of Atlanta]] during the [[American Civil War]] is on display in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
* [[Behalt Cyclorama]], depicting the heritage of the [[Amish]] and [[Mennonite]] people
* [[Gettysburg Cyclorama]], depicting the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] during the U.S. Civil War is displayed at [[Gettysburg National Military Park]], [[Pennsylvania]].  The version on display is the second of four known versions of this painting, and one of only two extant. The original was lost in 1933, and although rediscovered in 1965, has not returned to public display.  The second version, originally created for a Boston exhibition, is now on display at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center.
* [[Cyclorama of Jerusalem]], depicting [[Jesus Christ]]'s Crucifixion is on display in [[Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré]], [[Quebec]]
* [[Waterloo Cyclorama]], depicting the [[Battle of Waterloo]] is displayed in [[Belgium]] near the city of [[Waterloo, Belgium|Waterloo]]
* 1973 October War panorama in [[Cairo]], [[Egypt]], depicting the attack on the [[Bar Lev Line]] and the subsequent fighting during the [[Yom Kippur War|Yom Kippur/1973 October War]] between [[Israel]] and Egypt.
* The Riesenrundgemälde (giant circular painting) in [[Innsbruck]], Austria, shows the [[Battles of Bergisel]], still in its original building.
* [[Panorama Mesdag]], depicting the Dutch village of [[Scheveningen]] in 1881, displayed in [[The Hague]], [[Netherlands]]
* [[Palace of Versailles|Palace and Gardens of Versailles]] cyclorama, painted by [[John Vanderlyn]] on display in the American Wing at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in [[New York City]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/13052|title=John Vanderlyn &#124; Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles &#124; American|website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=6 October 2023}}</ref>
* A modern recreation of a lost Bunker Hill Cyclorama, depicting the [[Battle of Bunker Hill]], is displayed at the [[Bunker Hill Monument|Bunker Hill Museum]], along with a fragment of the [[Study (art)|study]] for the missing original.
* [[Arrival of the Hungarians]] (also called Feszty Panorama), by [[Árpád Feszty]] ''et al.'', completed in 1894. It was painted to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the 895 AD conquest of the [[Carpathian Basin]] by the [[Hungarians]]. It is displayed at the [[Ópusztaszer National Heritage Park]], [[Hungary]].
* Taejon Cyclorama, depicting the [[Battle of Taejon]]. On display at the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in [[Pyongyang]], [[North Korea]].
* [[Fletcher's Mutiny Cyclorama]], depicting the history of [[Norfolk Island]] and the Bounty mutiny.
* The [[Laysan Island Cyclorama]] at the [[University of Iowa Museum of Natural History]], depicts the ecology of [[Laysan Island]], near Hawaii. It was begun by [[Charles Cleveland Nutting]] and opened in 1914.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uiowa.edu/mnh/laysan/laysan/laysan-main.htm |title=Laysan Island Cyclorama |access-date=2014-09-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140907224451/http://www.uiowa.edu/mnh/laysan/laysan/laysan-main.htm |archive-date=7 September 2014}}</ref>
* The Panorama of the [[Battle of Lipany]] by [[Luděk Marold]] in Prague, in the Czech Republic.
* [[Panorama 1453 History Museum]], depicting the [[Fall of Constantinople]], in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]]. It is a hemisphere 38 meters in diameter with a surface area of 2,350 m<sup>2</sup><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.panoramikmuze.com/en|title = Panorama 1453}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Cyclorama Building (Boston)|Cyclorama Building]], Boston
*[[Cosmorama]]
*[[Diorama]]
*[[Eidophusikon]]
*[[Moving panorama]]
*[[Moving panorama|Myriorama]]
*[[Panorama]]
*[[Panoramic painting]]
*[[International Panorama Council]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://cyclorama.mobi/ Mobile Cyclorama . Virtual Panoramic 360° View Paintings]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040730191826/http://cyclorama.com/ Cyclorama of Jerusalem]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100824084030/http://www.heritagetoronto.org/news/story/2010/08/10/cyclorama Toronto Cyclorama]
* [http://www.panorama-innsbruck.at/e/thema/panoramaparc.htm Visions & illusions: the art of the cyclorama] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060627052239/http://www.panorama-innsbruck.at/e/thema/panoramaparc.htm |date=27 June 2006 }}
* [https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/cyclorama/ The New Georgia Encyclopedia]
* [http://www.buffaloah.com/a/franklin/369/index.html Cyclorama Building]
* [http://www.panorama-mesdag.nl/# The Panorama Mesdag]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101029231653/http://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/cyclorama.htm Gettysburg Cyclorama]
* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/11/AR2007081101179.html A Battle Scene's Full Circle: Massive Painting of Gettysburg Restored]
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/arts/design/07cycl.html?scp=1&sq=cyclorama&st=nyt Big Touch-Up for the Blue and the Gray]
* [http://www.panoramapainting.com International Panorama Council. A worldwide network of experts in panoramas and cycloramas]
* [http://showcase.meijitaisho.net/entry/nihon_panoramakan_03.php Battles of Vicksburg, cyclorama in Tokyo, circa 1891]
* [http://www.stalingrad-battle.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=13 Stalingrad Battle panorama]
* [http://www.1812panorama.ru Borodino Panorama]

[[Category:Cycloramas| ]]