The silver state. [volume] (Unionville, Nev.) 1870-1903, 1886-05-08
MAKING BIG PICTURES.
The Process Of Painting PanOramas OF
Great Battles.
from the Knox Vile Chronicle. !

[From the Knox Vile Chronice.l
The question is a natural one As to how
these great panoramas are made. This
's alb ut the process: A h-xagonal build
in1 1f .hriek IL constructed ~itb dimen.
sious ga. rally aheut $50 feet II diane.
ter. and vais ray co feet in height A
eohicsi rof. with sky light AID cupo.a,
surmounts the walls A canvas Of c IL
ton cloth is then stretched inside tile
rough walls from ground to roof, bat
protected from touching the walls by
Wooden framework, which is so fitted to
the inequalities OF the building as 10
letve Symmetrical inside surface on
which the cloth is stretched. When
complete there is a canvas say 450 yards
in length by so IN height, an1 containing
900 cubic yards Of cloth. This cloth is
heavily sized with heavy coat of glue
and whiting, and over this a coating OF
pant The surface thus prepared is
then ready for the artists. The director
in chief Of the work of Shiloh, Second
Bull Run, aud the fight between the
Monitor aud the Merrimac. was Theo.
Ph,Ipot. of Paris. He brought with him,
as co laborers, thirteen skilled artists,
each Of whom was an expert. They
have been engaged fourteen months in
producing the panoramas already named.
Their habit is to visit the battlefield Sc
Iected for painting aud spending five or
six weeks in studying and sketching it.
The field is divided off into sections, and
each artist takes a section. He makes a
sketch OF the surface of the ground, the
trees. the fences. the buildings. aud the
camera Of the photographer plays no in
significant part in this preliminary work.
fhese- sketches 10y sections are then
ready for the canvas. FIRST OF all, the
sky Is painted IN durable coIors, then the
land-c,p', trees. foliage, buildings, etc.
Then come the artillery Wagons, dis.
mounted canuous, broken nuskets and
all the wreck which great battle makes
Of the inanimate machinery of war
Then are painted the war horses in all
colurs, aud sizes, and attitudes. living
aud dead Some look as large as ele-
phauts. aud to the spectator out OF all
proportion to their approprla'e size, but
this Is a necessity to lay the foundation
lOr perspective. Last OF all. the painters
create the human Warriors For this
purpose tue artists th' elves pose as
models for each other-ln a bayouet
charge, in defense, in retieat, at ret. as
wounded, as dying, as dead. The mod
els Of all these soIdie,s on the canvas
were living boGies, Int the faces on the
bo lies were evolved from the artists
inner consciousness. aud each face in
fosm aud expression must differ f., m
every other face. To enable all these
aitIsts to work on the canvas at Que time,
a railway track is constructed, upon
which are placed movable staglngs Of diff
frrent heights. so that all sections OF the
work can be reached. As each artist is
unable to judge accurately, when stand
ing close to the canvas. of the proper
effect of his lights aud shades, the super.
intendent. standing on the platform
where the spectators will stand, directs
the processes-a little more red in such a
spot, a little less brown in another, too
much blue here, not enough of green
there. He fights his battle on canvas
very much as the commandant of the
real forces fought his-viz through or.
ders to his subordinates. After the can
vas has been completed, then comes the
foreground-the blending OF real earth,
and grass, and trees, and rocks. and
straw-stacks, and rail fences with shsd.
owy ones, aud the beginning and ending
OF each, so artisticaly dcne that the be
holder can hardly distinguish the real
from the imaginary line of separation
All the arrangements of these material
objects are Just as much the work ot art
isss as the strokes of the brush upon the
canvas. The foundation OF that steep
hill upon which is living brauch, ls a
platform of hemlock boards with about
two inches Of earth scattered on top.