Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum The Atlanta Cyclorama and Civil War Museum is a civil war museum located in Atlanta , its most noted attraction being the Atlanta Cyclorama , a cylindrical panoramic painting of the American Civil War Battle of Atlanta . The museum is located in historic Grant Park , adjacent to Zoo Atlanta . Atlanta Cyclorama . Visitors view the cylindrical painting from the inside , entering through an entrance in the floor . After being seated , the central cylinder rotates slowly affording a view of the entire painting . The painting at one time was the largest oil painting in the world , and if unrolled would measure 42 feet high by 358 feet long . It held this record until 2004 , when it was surpassed in size by a mural at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo measuring 32 feet high by 800 feet long . History The Story of the Painting The Battle of Atlanta was painted in Milwaukee , Wisconsin , in the studios of the American Panorama Company . The company , established in 1883 , was commissioned to produce two Civil War cycloramas – the Battle of Missionary Ridge ( 1883 – 84 ) and the Battle of Atlanta ( 1885 – 86 ) as well as a series on biblical themes . Company manager William Wehner went to Europe to find artists with the necessary skills . He selected a group of German artists with experience in European cyclorama painting and brought them to Milwaukee . Some of the artists had worked on cycloramas depicting German victories in the Franco - Prussian War ( 1870 – 71 ) . Three Specialized Groups The artists worked in three groups under the supervision of F . W . Heine and August Lohr . Heine , a Prussian army veteran , was in charge of the master composition . Lohr designed landscape settings . Other artists were : • Landscape painters — Bernhard Schneider , Wilhelm Schroeter and Franz Biberstein ; • Figure painters — Thaddeus Zukotynski , Theodore Breidwiser , Franz Rohrbeck , Herman Michalowski and Johannes Schultz ; • Animal painters — Richard Lorenz and George Peter . Field Study In 1885 , Heine , Lohr and several other artists came to Atlanta to study the site where the battle took place . Theodore Davis served as technical advisor to the group . He had been a Harper ' s Weekly staff artist during the war , and had witnessed and sketched the battles of several campaigns , including the one in Atlanta . The firsthand knowledge he conveyed to the German artists contributed significantly to the authenticity of the landscape and action in the Battle of Atlanta painting . Wooden Tower The artists studied the landscape from a 40 - foot wooden tower erected near the intersection of Moreland Avenue and the Georgia Railroad . They correlated landmarks with references made in military maps and official reports of the battle and made oil sketches of many details of the battle area . Koch House The artists ' painting equipment was kept in the basement of the Fred Koch house ( 282 Moreland Ave . S . E . ) . In 1885 this house stood atop Leggett ' s Hill , which had played a role in the battle 21 years before . The Koch house is no longer there , but was still standing as late as 1953 . Helpful Observers During their several months of study in the tower , the artists received helpful information and insightful reminiscences from Confederate and Union veterans and residents of the surrounding neighborhood . An interpreter translated for the non - English - speaking artists . First Exhibitions William Wehner placed the Battle of Atlanta on exhibition in Detroit in 1887 . This was the first of several stops on a tour of large cities that ended in Indianapolis , where the painting was displayed in 1888 . During the tour it was publicized as " Logan ' s Great Battle , " in reference to General John A . Logan , commander of the Union Army of the Tennessee in the Battle of Atlanta . According to tradition , the painting was originally commissioned to boost Logan ' s vice presidential candidacy on the ticket with James G . Blaine in 1884 . But the timing was off by two years , and General Logan , who died in 1886 , probably never saw the completed work . Changing Ownership Legal difficulties forced Wehner to relinquish ownership of the painting in 1888 to the Miller heirs who owned the land where the painting was housed . The Miller heirs in turn sold the painting to Paul Atkinson of Madison , Georgia , in 1890 . Atkinson was already the owner of the Missionary Ridge cyclorama , which he exhibited in Chattanooga until it was replaced there by the Battle of Atlanta . Atkinson brought Missionary Ridge to Atlanta and displayed it in a drum - shaped structure on the north side of Edgewood Avenue , between Courtland Street and Piedmont Avenue . In 1892 he shipped Missionary Ridge to Nashville where it was subsequently destroyed by a tornado . The Battle of Atlanta replaced Missionary Ridge in the Edgewood Avenue building in 1892 . The exhibition ' s first lecturer was Charles W . Hubner , veteran chief of General Joseph E . Johnston ' s – later General John B . Hood ' s – telegraph corps during the war . In 1893 Atkinson sold the painting to H . H . Harrison of Florida . Harrison wanted to exhibit it at the World ' s Columbian exposition in Chicago , but the cost of building a structure for it was so high he abandoned the idea and the picture remained in Atlanta . Heavy snowfall that winter caved in the roof of the Edgewood structure and damaged the painting . It was sold at auction in 1893 to Ernest Woodruff . He in turn sold it to George Valentine Gress and Charles Northen , who asked the city to assign space for it in one of the city parks . Atlanta agreed and a frame structure was erected in Grant Park . George Valentine Gress ( April 25 , 1847 - Aug . 28 , 1934 ) was born in Sullivan County , New York , and became an outstanding public - spirited citizen of Atlanta . His gift of animals to the city in 1889 founded the Grant Park Zoo . His purchase of the Cyclorama in 1893 , and its presentation to the city in 1898 , ensured the preservation of the huge canvas – the best - known and best - mounted cyclorama in the world . In 1898 , Gress gave the Cyclorama to the city , asking only that the painting be repaired and its wooden building improved . The city accepted the gift , relying on admission fees ( 10 cents per person ) to cover repairs and improvements . These were estimated at $ 2 , 400 , but the actual cost came to $ 4 , 066 . 17 . Repairs were completed just in time for a reunion of Confederate veterans in Atlanta that year . During the city ' s first week of Cyclorama operation , the 10 cent admission totaled $ 1 , 000 , even though the veterans were admitted free of charge . Into the 20th Century In 1919 , an amendment to the Atlanta city charter allowed the city to erect a fireproof building to house the painting and thus ensure its preservation . The new building , sited several hundred feet northeast of the old structure , was designed by Atlanta architect John Francis Downing . It was dedicated on Oct . 1 , 1921 , and the Cyclorama painting resides there to this day . A diorama was added in 1936 , providing a three - dimensional foreground that blends seamlessly with the painting . In 1979 , the Cyclorama was shut down for a two - year period while the painting was repaired and the museum and theater were updated . It reopened in1982 with a dynamic new program , rotating seats , surround sound and theater lighting . Restoration 21st Century — the Story Continues Today , after its many travels , relocations and extensive repairs , the painting measures 42 feet x 358 feet . Although these measurements are smaller than the original dimensions , it is still the largest oil painting — and longest running show — in the world . The Cyclorama was narrated at one time by volunteers , some of whom were veterans or widows of veterans of the Civil War . In 1960 , Atlanta Mayor William B . Hartsfield accepted the donation of a recorded narration written by Junius Andrew Park , Jr . , in honor of his father , Junius Andrew Park , Sr . , who was born and raised in Atlanta . Research was done by Lurline Richardson Park , the writer ' s wife . The narration was musically scored by Atlanta musician Sam T . Wilhoit and the narration was read by Hollywood actor Victor Jory , who appeared in the original motion picture , " Gone with the Wind . " All parties donated their time and labor . In later years , a revised narration was produced and narrated by actor Shepperd Strudwick . Civil War museum . The museum displays pictures and artifacts from the Civil War , including the " Texas " , a steam locomotive that pursued the captured train the " General " in the Great Locomotive Chase during the war . This raid was depicted in the 1927 Buster Keaton film " The General " and the 1956 Disney film " The Great Locomotive Chase " . A movie theater inside the museum shows a short film about the Atlanta Campaign , narrated by James Earl Jones , to visitors before they view the painting . The cyclorama painting itself is augmented by a three - dimensional diorama in front of the painting and a narration of the events of the battle and the history of the painting . A popular story concerning the diorama involves actor Clark Gable . During the celebrations surrounding the opening of the film " Gone with the Wind " , the film ' s actors visited the Atlanta Cyclorama . Gable allegedly claimed that the only way the painting could be any more magnificent was if he were in it , prompting the management to add Gable ' s features to one of the sculptures in the diorama , that of a dying soldier .