Dead
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Subject: Dead Media Working Note 08.9
Dead medium: the Panorama
From: bruces_AT_well.com (Bruce Sterling)
Source: The Panorama Phenomenon: Mesdag Panorama 1881-
1981
Published by the Foundation for the Preservation of the
Centenarian Mesdag Panorama (September 1981)
Den Haag, Holland
editor Evelyn J. Fruitema
written by Paul A. Zoetmulder
Mesdag Panorama, Zeestraat 65b, 2518AA The Hague
(Netherlands)
page 20
"Painting a panorama required a highly specialized
technique. One has but to image the enormous size of the
canvas to be painted to understand this. Surfaces of 1500
to 2000 square meters were not unusual. The canvas was of
circular form, made the transfer of sketches executed on
a plane surface very complicated indeed."
page 22
"The panorama painter took the requirement of
meticulous rendering exceedingly seriously. When he
wished to represent towns, landscapes or other spectacles
from foreign countries, he travelled to the location with
a group of assistants in order to prepare the sketchwork
in detail on the spot. Such expeditions sometimes lasted
many months. Topographical studies were undertaken, and
for historical scenes, available archaeological research
constituted the basis. Every detail was delineated
exactly as it was, or must have been. In representing
contemporary events, such as battles or sea fights, a
well-nigh pathological precision manifested itself."
pages 23-25
"Scaffolding of greater height than the canvas (14
to 16 m.), and mobile in a circle, was needed (...) These
were enormous structures on wheels, mostly consisting of
many stories, on which several men were simultaneously
engaged in their work, as arduous as it was singular.
There they stood with their giant paintbrushes, at a
distance of five feet from the canvas, practically
helpless without central guidance. (...)
"After all preliminaries, it was on that scaffolding
that the actual production of the panorama-painting began.
(...) Usually it was done in teamwork, each member
assuming responsibility for either a number of sections,
or for the subject for which he had been recruited as a
specialist (scenery, architecture, sea, animals, etc.).
These artists were in turn assisted by various helpers, so
that inside the rotunda was full of hustle and bustle.
(...) Standing in the rotunda centre, the 'producer'
continuously gave orders to his disciples on the
scaffolding, who in fact scarcely saw what they were
actually painting.
"Finally the 'faux-terrain' with its three
dimensional '*attrapes*' was constructed by specially
recruited experts (frequently theatre designers) who
competed to make the foreground as deceptive as possible.
Then the panorama was ready, after an enervating
production that generally took approximately a whole
year."
Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |