''The Battle of Gettysburg'', also known as the Gettysburg Cyclorama, is a
cyclorama painting by the French artist
Paul Philippoteaux depicting
Pickett's Charge
Pickett's Charge was an infantry assault on July 3, 1863, during the Battle of Gettysburg. It was ordered by Confederate General Robert E. Lee as part of his plan to break through Union lines and achieve a decisive victory in the North. T ...
, the climactic
Confederate attack on the
Union forces during the
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...
on July 3, 1863. After being commissioned by
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
investors, Philippoteaux studied the battlefield and interviewed participants, completing the cyclorama in 1883. A
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
version of the cyclorama was later made, as well as two other major copies. After being displayed in several other locations in whole and in part, the Boston version was taken to
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg (; ) is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the borough had a population of 7,106 people.
Gettysburg was the site of ...
, and was displayed there beginning in the 1910s. In 1942, it was purchased by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
. The cyclorama has been restored multiple times and is on display at
Gettysburg National Military Park.
Description
The painting is the work of French artist Paul Dominique Philippoteaux. It depicts Pickett's Charge, the failed infantry assault that was the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg. The painting is a ''cyclorama'', a type of 360° cylindrical painting. The intended effect is to immerse the viewer in the scene being depicted, often with the addition of foreground models and life-sized replicas to enhance the illusion. Among the sites documented in the painting are
Cemetery Ridge
Cemetery Ridge is a geographic feature in Gettysburg National Military Park, south of the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that figured prominently in the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1 to July 3, 1863. It formed a primary defensive position for t ...
,
the Angle, and the "
High-water mark of the Confederacy". The version that hangs in Gettysburg, a recent (2005) restoration of the version created for
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, is high and in circumference.
Details of the painting
File:Gettysburg Cyclorama.jpg, Pickett's Charge up Cemetery Ridge.
File:'Confederate General Lewis Armistead at The Angle' -- Gettysburg (PA) Cyclorama 2012.jpg, Confederate General Lewis Armistead at The Angle He was shot three times, and died, probably of sepsis, two days later in a Union field hospital.
File:A Wounded President Lincoln -- Gettysburg Cyclorama 2012.jpg, A wounded President Lincoln, reportedly according to Philippoteaux, representative of a wounded nation
File:Caisson Exploding -- Gettysburg Cyclorama 2012.jpg, Caisson exploding
File:Union Commandiing General George Meade & Staff Advancing Toward Cemetery Ridge July 3, 1863-- Gettysburg (PA) Cyclorama 2012.jpg, General George Meade and staff advancing toward Cemetery Ridge
File:Union General Winfield Scott Hancock -- Gettysburg (PA) Cyclorama 2012.jpg, General Winfield Scott Hancock
File:Union Infantry and Artillery Advancing Toward The Angle July 3, 1863 -- Gettysburg (PA) Cyclorama 2012.jpg, Union infantry and artillery advancing Toward The Angle
File:Union Line on Cemetery Ridge July 3,1863 Near the Brian Barn -- Gettysburg (PA) Cyclorama 2012.jpg, Union Line on Cemetery Ridge
File:Union Major (by brevet) Alonzo Cushing at The Angle July 3, 1863 -- Gettysburg (PA) Cyclorama 2012.jpg, Union Major Alonzo Cushing at The Angle
Development

Philippoteaux became interested in cycloramas and, in collaboration with his father, created ''The Defence of the Fort d'Issy'' in 1871. Other successful works included ''Taking of Plevna'' (Turko-Russian War), the ''Passage of the Balkans'', ''The Belgian Revolution of 1830'', ''Attack in the Park'', ''The Battle of Kars'', ''The Battle of Tel-el-Kebir'', and the ''Derniere Sortie''.
He was commissioned by a group of
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
investors to create the Gettysburg Cyclorama. He spent several weeks in April 1882 at the site of the
Gettysburg Battlefield
The Gettysburg Battlefield is the area of the July 1–3, 1863, military engagements of the Battle of Gettysburg in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Locations of military engagements extend from the site of the first shot & at Knoxlyn Ridge ...
to sketch and photograph the scene, and extensively researched the battle and its events over several months. He erected a wooden platform along present-day Hancock Avenue and drew a circle around it, eighty feet in diameter, driving stakes into the ground to divide it into ten sections. Local photographer William H. Tipton took three photographs of each section, focusing in turn on the foreground, the land behind it, and the horizon. The photos, pasted together, formed the basis of the composition.
Philippoteaux also interviewed several survivors of the battle, including Union generals
Winfield S. Hancock,
Abner Doubleday,
Oliver O. Howard
Oliver Otis Howard (November 8, 1830 – October 26, 1909) was a career United States Army officer and a Union Army, Union General officer, general in the American Civil War, Civil War. As a brigade commander in the Army of the Potomac, Howard ...
, and
Alexander S. Webb, and based his work partly on their recollections.
Philippoteaux enlisted a team of five assistants, including his father until his death, to create the final work.
It took over a year and a half to complete.
The finished painting was nearly 100 yards long and weighed six tons.
When completed for display, the full work included not just the painting, but numerous artifacts and sculptures, including stone walls, trees, and fences.
The effect of the painting has been likened to the nineteenth century equivalent of an
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...
theater.
Four major versions were made: the Chicago copy, the Boston copy, and two others. Of the latter copies, one was cut up and converted into tents for use on an
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...
, while the fate of the other is not known.
Chicago version
In 1881, Paul Philippoteaux was commissioned by Charles Willoughby to paint a cyclorama depicting Pickett's Charge for $50,000.
Willoughby, Phillippoteaux, and other investors formed the National Panorama Company to display the artwork once it was completed. A location for a building to house the cyclorama was also selected.
The work opened to the public in Chicago on October 22, 1883, to critical acclaim.
General
John Gibbon, one of the commanders of the Union forces who repelled Pickett's Charge, was among the veterans of the battle who gave it favorable reviews.
So realistic was the painting that many veterans of the war were reported to have wept upon seeing it.
The painting was displayed in Chicago for ten years; the exhibitors claimed that it was viewed by over two million people during that time. This version was probably not the copy displayed at the
1893 Chicago World's Fair
The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...
, and a cyclorama displayed in
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
, in 1893 was claimed to be the Chicago copy by its presenters. The next year, a copy claimed to be the original Chicago version was on display for a fair in
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...
; it was badly damaged by weather during this display.
For a time, it was believed that a copy of the cyclorama discovered by North Carolinian Joe King in 1965 and later donated to
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...
was the original Chicago copy. While work was being performed on the Boston version of the cyclorama in the 21st century, it was determined that this version was actually a later copy made under the direction of E. J. Austen. This version was sold in 2007,
and in 2019 was sold to the North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center for a fraction of its appraised value.
Boston version

The Chicago exhibition was sufficiently successful to prompt businessman Charles L. Willoughby to commission a second version, which opened in
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, on December 22, 1884. From its opening until 1892, approximately 200,000 people viewed the painting.
The Boston version was housed in a specially designed building, the
Cyclorama Building, on
Tremont Street
Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts.
Tremont Street begins at Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Government Center in Boston's city center as a continuation of Cambridge Street, and forms the eastern edge of ...
,
and was the site of popular public lectures on the battle.
Two additional copies of the cyclorama were made: the third was first exhibited in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, beginning in February 1886 and a fourth debuted in Brooklyn, New York, in October 1886.
Many reviewers and visitors agreed with the ''
Boston Daily Advertiser'' that "it is impossible to tell where reality ends and the painting begins." One veteran, pointing at the painting, said to his friend: "You see that puff of smoke? Just wait a moment till that clears away, and I'll show you just where I stood." In New York, police responding to a report of a nighttime burglary and disoriented by the illusion twice seized dummies representing dead soldiers, convinced that they were live burglars.
In 1891, the Boston cyclorama was sent to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
temporarily, while another cylcorama depicting the
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...
was displayed in Boston. The immediate following history of the cyclorama is unclear,
but it was likely displayed at the
1893 Chicago World's Fair
The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...
.
but by 1896 it had been returned to Boston,
where it was stored in a crate behind the exhibition hall, where it was subjected to damage from weather, vandals removing boards from the crate, and two fires. It was eventually purchased in its deteriorated state by Albert J. Hahne of
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
, in 1910. Hahne displayed sections of the cyclorama in his department store in Newark beginning in 1911, and sections were also shown in government buildings in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
, and
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
In the Baltimore exhibition,
George E. Pickett's widow, "Sallie" Pickett, lectured on her husband's experiences and found herself very moved by the experience.
Cyclorama building

On September 3, 1912, ground was broken for a new cyclorama building on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg, on Cemetery Hill (on the site of the present day
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn by IHG is a chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson (1913–2003), who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee. The chain was a division ...
), near the entrance to the
Soldiers' National Cemetery
Gettysburg National Cemetery, originally called Soldiers' National Cemetery, is a United States National Cemetery System, United States national cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, created for Union army casualties sustained in the Battle of ...
. It opened to the public in 1913, in time for the 50th anniversary of the battle, once again displayed as a full circular painting, rather than in sections. The unheated, leaky brick building took a further toll on the condition of the painting. The Boston cyclorama was purchased by the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
in 1942, and moved to a site on Ziegler's Grove near the new Visitor Center in 1961, after a second round of restoration.
The exhibition was closed in 2005 for a third restoration.
The $12-million restoration, by Olin Conservation, Inc., of Great Falls, Virginia, started with the 26 sections of the painting and recreated its original shape of 14 panels hung from a circular railing, slightly flared out at the bottom. In the process, some original pieces were found of the 12 circumferential feet that had been cut away. Fourteen vertical feet of sky was also restored.
A new visitor center at the Gettysburg battlefield was constructed, and the cyclorama painting was moved there after the renovation was completed in 2008.
The
prior cyclorama building, which had been designed by
Richard Neutra
Richard Joseph Neutra ( ; 8 April 1892 – 16 April 1970) was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for most of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. His most ...
, had been built on ground where fighting occurred during the battle. The National Park Service decided to demolish the old building to restore the area to closer to its wartime state, although the proposed demolition met some criticism from preservationists. The building was demolished in early 2013.
See also
*
Atlanta Cyclorama
Notes and references
Notes
References
External links
''Gettysburg Cyclorama''National Park Service Gettysburg Cyclorama
Photos:
Civil War Paintings, The ''Gettysburg Cyclorama'' - Photo Gallery
{{Authority control
Cycloramas
American Civil War in art
George Pickett
Gettysburg National Military Park
Murals in Pennsylvania
War paintings
1883 paintings
19th-century murals
Art in Pennsylvania
Battle of Gettysburg