The Cyclorama: Civil War Atlanta in the round
Published: Feb 12, 2009
Take a seat and enjoy the Cyclorama's view of Atlanta -- as it was in 1864 during the Civil War.
The Cyclorama, a Civil War museum set on the edge of Grant Park, is most famous for its panorama painting of the Battle of Atlanta. It's not like any painting you've ever seen before.
After the work was commissioned in 1885, several artists from the American Panorama Company in Milwaukee visited the battlefield, heard firsthand accounts of the fighting and finally finished the oversized painting in 1886.
Today, their version of the Battle of Atlanta can be viewed right here in the city. Rotating stadium-style seating is poised in the center of the cyclorama painting to allow for a 360 degree view of the work -- still the largest oil painting in the world. The foreground is enhanced as a diorama, with scenery and figurines (made to look life size), bringing the battlefield to life and giving the display a three-dimensional look. In fact, it's hard to tell where the painting ends and the diorama begins.
Don't worry if you having a hard time distinguishing important details in the scene. A Cyclorama staff member takes the spin with you to point out key elements. For instance, the man leading a charge on the black stallion is John Alexander Logan, the Illinois senator who commissioned the painting during his run for vice president after the war. (He died prior to its completion).
Stone Mountain can be seen in the distance on one portion of the painting. And a figurine of Clark Gable portrays one of the dead Confederate soldiers in the diorama (added following a comment by Gable that his image would complete the scene).
The painting is 122 years old, is 42 feet tall, weighs 9,334 pounds, covers 16,000 square feet, has a 358-foot circumference and would cover a football field if laid flat. Today it is valued at $25 million.
In addition to the painting, the Cyclorama also houses a modest collection of Civil War artifacts and the steam locomotive known as the Texas. The Texas, used by the Confederate Army, was the hero of the Great Locomotive Chase in 1862, when it was used to chase down the General locomotive after Union soldiers hijacked it.
The beautiful Cyclorama building can be rented for events, meetings and weddings.
- by Christine Foster, Atlanta Reporter for HelloMetro
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