Wichita eagle., 1888-04-25
THE PANORAMA'S GROWTH
BANvARO'S THREE MILES OF CANVAS
AND THE SHOW OF TO-DAY.

The illusions Of the Round House Pan
orama-Why They are So Effective
Mystery of the Cyclorama "A Battle
Scene.
The man who will confess to a recollection
of the time when Banvard's Panorama Of
the Mississippi" was first unfolded to the ad
niration of the public may be suspected Of
being either married man, to whom youth
is no object, or bachelor so long buffeted or
the sea of celibacy that fe has no hope Of
ever reaching port 1t was long time ago
so long that even the multitude Of limitations
that followed the original Barnard, covering
Journeys by land, ocean, and river over al
most half the globe, have all vanished into
the attics and been forgotten. 1t was report
ed that there were three miles of canvas in
| Banvard's panorama That was probably q
managerial fiction but it is none the less
certain that there were great many yards.
1t took hours to reel the picture off before the
eyes OF admiring spectators, and lecturer
with practiced lungs was needed to expatiate
on its beauties. But there were not many
beauties after all. The Mississippi river.
though long river, runs for the most part
through fiat country, and is navigated by
flat boats which it may or may not be worth
while to try and make picturesque. But TIE
motives of Banvard were patriotic and pc
cuniary rather than artistic. The biggest
river in the world was entitled to the biggest
picture, and it was reasonable to suppose that
the two attractions combined would bring
out the biggest throngs of spectators that
ever attended an art exhibition.
However far back in the uncertain past the
origin Of the fixed panorama may be traced,
there is no doubt that the panorama on roll
ers is modern conception. There could be
little doubt either from the beginning that
| its career was destined to be brief, for life is
too short to paint pictures by the acre that
| will be good enough to endure But the idea
seems to have been susceptible of develop
ment. The cyclorama, called also panorama,
| now holds the field vacated by its prede-
| cessor.
Between the panorama and the cyclorama
| there Is a wide distinction. The former car
| RED you upon long voyage and showed a
succession of scenes, and you were supposed
| to sail by on the deck of some steamer; but
the latter sets you down, or rather sets you
up, III the middle of fixed landscape made
memorable by some historical event, and
gives picture OF incidents that can be re-
called only by the imagination. The CYCLIC
rama is an invasion of the field of historical
painting, therefore, and must be tested by
severer canons of criticism than the piano.
rama.
There are plenty of men who believe in the
new form of entertainment and who seem
willing to risk their dollars on its success.
Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago. St Paul and
Denver have each battle of Gettysburg;
and, in this city. round house is being
erected for the exhibition Of picture Of the
same event Washington, much to the third
confusion Of the Union army, has its Bull
Run, st. Louis and Kansas City their Mis-
sionary Ridge, San Francisco its Vicksburg,
New Orleans its siege of Paris and Minneap-
oils its Atlanta. Chicago has also battle Of
Shiloh
At the first view of the spectator the cvclo-
rama seems to be mystery. 1t is appar-
emily an absolute reproduction of the scene
represented. the objects seeming equal in size
with the original objects, and the space COW
cred equally great. A circular building, less
than 100 feet in diametez end not much more
than fifty feet in elevation, expands to the
dimensions of the space that can be covered
by the eye III an open landscape and reaches
ground it is very we'll known. is composed of
real figures and objects: but the illusion upon
the painted canvas is so perfect that the
painted figures seem hardly less objective
than the real figures, and without the most
careful scrutiny the dividing line cannot be
distinguished. Surely, the spectator thinks,
there must be some wonderful secret known
only to the painter in this illusion.
Ruf fba-a i. : L., 81
the secret which has caused all art TO be
called mystery. Shut out the real objects
in the foreground from the eve and the dis
tances IN the perspective will not be dimin-
ished nor the figures on the canvas rendered
lass strong in their relief. The only service
that seems to De rendered by the objective
portions Of the foreground is TO bring the
entire landscape TO the feet Of the spectator
and 70 shut out the intervening space Of bare
floor or carpet that would otherwise help to
break the Illusion. He IS surrounded by the
picture above, below and upon all sides, and
is permitted TO see no other object He stands
upon platform that seems 70 be erected in
the very center Of the field delIneated. TINS
doubtless aids 70 render the scene mora re-
alistic, but 1t adds nothing 10 relief or per
spective- The great size OF the picture,
reaching practically from the foot Of the
platform 10 the roof distance % abou. 100
feet, is probably the chief cause OF the appar-
emily wonderful! expansion OF space.
The cyclorana will not prove q more En-
during form Of entertainment than the pano-
rama unless II IL produced with a more arts
tic motive than controlled tie production of
It's predecessor. There Is no merit IN relief.
Save 70 the extent that il rsgl rs from perfect
modelling. where il as mora properly termed
rourcnsSs than relief, il IS not t. he regarded
as an artistic merit The means for Is az
tainrneat are merely mechanical and tCey dc I
not enter into the motives that govern the !
production Of really fne Grt Then. again. |
the cyciorama is very restricted IL It's field /
and demands = constant Succession q artistic /
snactronisTlls and The rlisplacinG OF incidents 4
TO se effective
Thus far TIE painters = zh@se Fsc-'1rFs have |
essayed only battle sceues. anu y h led q /
peculiar hardship. "A izas-se tS~i, represented 1
literally As il ioo<s 70 tss eye. .caid prove 1
very tame sfTas-. Notwithstanding al tAat .
VIC lear about personal exposure and h-roic /
deeds, the u1sg intent c.a glorious fea-s q
arms are generally trying 20 keep out of 4
sghs- hiding Il the reocs a2l be-a.6 riga j