NAILING ON THE CANVAS.
In a cyclorama of this kind it is necessary to have the scene portrayed with the utmost fidelity. The result is that the landscape is really an artistic transcript of photographic views of the field. The artist first went to the scene of the great battle of Gettysburg, and selected one point of view, and caused a small stage to be erected at this point, which was of the same height as that upon which the people were to stand in the completed cyclorama. Around the stage a line of pickets was driven in a circle, as [shown] at the point B. The distance was measured from the top of the stage as a center. From the top of the scaffold three series of ten photographs each were taken, the instrument being sighted by means of the posts. This series of photographs showed the entire field; one series being taken for the foreground, while the other two, by their focusing and exposure, were devoted to the middle distance and background. Each view was divided into squares, as shown in our [illustration]; the canvas was marked off by corresponding divisions, and the photographs were copied square by square; the blending of the ten views and the aërial perspective was, of course, the critical part of the performance. The painting was done from a scaffold which traveled around on the same tracks which carried the roller frame, as shown in our [illustration].
PHOTOGRAPHING THE FIELD.
The painting was done in oil, tinsel being occasionally employed. After the circular wall was covered, the foreground next claimed the attention of the painter and his assistants. A wooden platform was built which extended all around the platform upon which the visitors stood, and earth and sod covered these boards. Fences, tufts of grass, wheat, etc., lent their aid to fill up the scene. The continuation of the road was met almost perfectly on the canvas; in fact, it was almost impossible to see the line of demarcation between the real and the painted foreground. We give an interesting engraving of this method of constructing a realistic scene.
PAINTING A CYCLORAMA.