Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-02-19
THE MODERN PANORAMA.

Invention OF the Circular Form Of Pict-
urea Mystery to tho Spectator.
However far back in the dim past the
panorama idea can be traced. the roller
panorama is comparatively modern, and
It's career was destined to be brief, for its
miles Of canvas with crude color fur
nished pictures that were devoid of en-
during qualities. 1t gave rise or revived
an infinitely better and more instructive
and valuable exemplar in the present
panorama that the eastern cousin calls
the cyclorama. History credits Robert
Barker. a Scotch artist, with the inven-
hon of the circular panorama, he having
exhibited in Edinburgh hat city's pan
oramic reflections in l7Ss, it being
followed in succession with a view
Of London, sea fights and the Ma
poleonic wars. Between the old roller
panorama and hat Of the present there is
deep gulf fixed. The former carried
the spectator upon a long voyage, with
the leather lunged lecturer as the vocal
accompanist, and from the steamers
deck ON which the audience were sup
posed to view a succession of scenes;
something like a Stoddlrd lecture or a
guide book that speaks in a stage voice
from behind the friendly screen of dark
ness. The present panorama or cylo-
rama, without any such Gdyentitious
aids, provides the spectator with an ele-
waited position in the center Of a fixed
landscape that has boen made memorable
by some great historical event. 1t pro-
vides a picture that beSpeaks its own art
stic vallh, and bases its incidents upon
recorded fact. l. now successfully in
yades the field Of historical paintings and
challenges the ssverer canons Of criti-
sism, as well a, the skill, %truthfulneSs
and accuracy Of the artist.
At the first view of the spectator the
panorama seenis 10 be a mystery. Ii is
apparently an absolute reproduction of
the cen represented, the objects SEEM
ing equal in size with the original OBJ
lects, and the splcecovered equally great.
A circular build lg, less than 100 feet in
diameter, and not much more than fifty
feet in elevation, expands 10 the dimen-
sions Of the space that can be covered by
the eye in an open landscape, and reaches
upward to the clouds. A portion Of the
Playground, it is very well known, is
ooAnposed Of real figures and objects; hut
the Illusion upon the painted canvas is
90 perfect that the painted figupes seem
hardly less objective thanthe reafiigures,
and without the most careful scrutiny
the dividing line cannot be distinguished.
Gsrral- No gV.a.f,tnr ths,l-. sla,, 5000
be some wonderful secret known only to
the painter in this illusion. The largest
life size figures are between three and
four feet high.
The most remarkable of recent realistic
aids to the panorama is the foreground
A recent writer says: Shut out the real
objects in the foreground from the eve,
and the distances in the perspective will
not be diminished, nor the figures on the
canvas rendered less strong in their re-
lief. The only service that seems TO be
rendered by the objective portions Of
the foreground is to bring the en-
tire lndacapeto the feet Of the spectator,
and TO shut out the intervening space Of
bare floor that would otherwise destroy
the illusion. One is surrounded by the
picture above, below, and upon all sides,
and is permitted 10 see no other object,
standing upon a platform that seems 10
be erected in the very center Of the field
delineated. These are aids TO render the
scene more realistic. Any one who has
observed a painting Of this character,
without the foreground in position, will
readily recognize its immense advantage,
when it forms the link between the plat
form and the canvas. Good drawing,
spirited color. and finely sustained per.
spective. are three requisites that must
figure On the plane Of a worthy pano-
rama.
The linen canvas for panoramas, from
the Wehner studio, is specially woven al
Brussels, in brcadths thirty feet wide by
fifty long. that ar neatly stitched
together. fourteen widths furnishing the
regulation size. The ground colors alone
cost upward OF $500 before there is a
tracery on the canvas. 1t requires nearly
5000 pounds Of pure white and ultrama-
rine blue for atmospheric glazing. When
panorama is painted anil rolled for
shipment it il coated with three tons Of
color, and weighs about five tons, and is
liable 10 consume another ton Of color in
the finishing touches. The panorama Of
the Battle Of Sedan, - the heaviest in the
country. weighed eleven tons.-Chicago
Inter Ocean.