||This article needs additional citations for verification.
(April 2012)| A cyclorama is a panoramic painting on the inside
of a cylindrical platform, designed to provide a viewer standing
in the middle of the cylinder with a 360° view of the painting.
The intended effect is to make a viewer, surrounded by the
panoramic image, feel as if they were standing in the midst of
an historic event or famous place. "Cyclorama" can also refer to
the building designed to show the panoramic painting (pictured).
Panoramas were invented by Irish painter Robert Barker, who
wanted to find a way to capture the panoramic view from Calton
Hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland. He subsequently opened his
first cyclorama building in Edinburgh in 1787. Cycloramas were
very popular in the late 19th century. The most popular traveled
from city to city to provide local entertainment — much like a
modern movie. As the viewers stood in the center of the
painting, there would often be music and a narrator telling the
story of the event de