Atlanta Cyclorama

Cyclorama: “A large pictorial representation encircling the spectator and often having real objects as a foreground.”

I admit that the first time I saw the Atlanta Cyclorama building (next to the Atlanta Zoo at that time), I thought it was some sort of bicycle track (cyclodrome/velodrome). So, in all our visits to Atlanta, I never took my kids to see it. In my defense, it wasn’t all that far-fetched since Atlanta had recently hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics. Many years later, when I found out it is actually a painting that depicts the July 22, 1864 Battle of Atlanta, I wasn’t very enthused about standing in a room and looking at a single painting of a battle, even if it was a 360° painting.

In 2017, I read an article about the painting being removed for restoration and relocation. In learning a little more about it (and now being more interested in art), I was anxious to see it back on display. In 2019, the new Lloyd and Mary Ann Whitaker Cyclorama Building at the Atlanta History Center opened and I finally got to see it. None of the information I previously read did it justice (and neither can my photos)!

Many things surprised me about the Atlanta Cyclorama: Its incredible height, its age and provenance, the illusion of depth provided by the diorama, its physical structure, and the fact that it depicts a major Union victory (while being displayed in the South since 1892).

The painting is over 4-stories tall and you get to view it from two different levels: a 12-foot-high platform and floor level. The restoration took it back to its original height of 49 feet (from 42 feet) and circumference of 371 feet (from 359 feet) after losing some height and a couple of narrow strips during its earlier moves.

The bald eagle is Old Abe, the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin infantry regiment, which was not involved in the battle, but the artists likely included it as a sort of Wisconsin signature.

In 1886 the American Panorama Company in Milwaukee hired seventeen German artists to paint The Battle of Atlanta, and it was completed in just five months. A lot of historical research still went into it. The lead artists visited the battlefield to sketch the terrain; they studied maps; and they interviewed veterans of the battle. Upon completion, the painting toured several Midwestern cities (at a time when traveling cycloramas were a lucrative entertainment form). As interest began to wane, it found a permanent home in Atlanta in 1892.

The artists

The diorama is formed all around the foot of the painting (with 128 plaster figures added in the 1930s). It seamlessly blends into the painting and adds to the illusion of depth. The figures include Clark Gable as a dead Union soldier. His figure was added after he visited the cyclorama in 1939 during his visit to the city for the premier of “Gone with the Wind.” He commented that the only thing wrong with the cyclorama was that he wasn’t in it, so the mayor had him added.

Even in person it can be hard to tell where the painting stops and the diorama begins.

A dead Union soldier in the likeness of Clark Gable

The diorama was originally made from real dirt, tree stumps, etc., which caused a bug problem. Now it is made of fiberglass.

Lots of railroad tracks figure into the diorama and the painting.

In spite of being installed in a Southern city in 1892, the cyclorama depicts a battle won by the Union. Although, with a few changes such as painting out a captured Confederate flag and adding blue uniforms to captured Confederate soldiers, the public apparently didn’t realize it depicted a Union victory. It was advertised to them as “the only Confederate victory ever painted.”

The original "Confederate" flag has been restored to the painting even though this type of battle flag was never used by any Confederate Army. The reason the American Panorama Company used this flag in its paintings is not known. (It looks to me like the Alabama state flag which wasn't adopted until 1895.)

These defeated soldiers have been returned to their original Confederate garb.

Union forces on the attack

A multimedia show (projected onto a portion of the painting) attempts to get viewers thinking about what is left out of the painting (such as the role of women and African Americans in the battle), the motives of soldiers on both sides of the conflict, and how art can influence people’s views. It doesn’t give any information about the battle itself; however, after the show, a live interpreter gives a “tour” of the painting and answers the audience’s questions.

The escalators lead up to the viewing platform.

The multimedia show is projected onto the painting.

The cyclorama is painted on canvas (fourteen panels of Belgian linen sewn together) and it is not mounted on a hard surface.  It is held between huge rings at the top and bottom. As you walk into the display room you can get a view of the infrastructure that stretches and supports the painting.

The annular space between the canvas and the building

I always appreciate “making of” and “behind-the-scenes” type displays, and the cyclorama building has some good ones. I wished I could get right up close to the painting to see the brushstrokes and details, but that’s not possible with the diorama in front of it. However, the displays include preliminary paintings, as well as sketches and information about the restoration process. 

The displays describe the process from initial sketches to 1/10 scale pen and ink drawings to a 1/10 scale shaded and colored model to enlarging and projecting the line drawings onto the canvas.

Detail of an oil study for the cyclorama

A model of the studio building where the Battle of Atlanta painting was created 

Although there were 40 to 50 cyclorama paintings touring North America at the height of their popularity, only three remain. The other two are in Quebec, Canada and the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. 

Even before the Atlanta Cyclorama was moved to the Atlanta History Center there was plenty to see here, so don't miss the rest of the center. It also now includes the Texas locomotive, which was moved along with the cyclorama.

The Texas played a role in the "Great Train Chase" during the Civil War.