Introduction

Abstract

The history of panoramic art has its roots in the 18th century. The panorama was registered for patent in 1787 by Robert Barker in London. At that time, panorama was a new form of painting, with sweeping pictures painted on the inside of the walls in buildings specially designed for such art. These so-called rotundas tapered off in the form of a dome at the top, whereby the panoramic depictions reached a height of up to 15 meters. Sophisticated illumination and special painting techniques played to the imagination of the observer standing on a platform at the center. The aim here was to create the perfect illusion. Popular motifs included current and historical views of cities, war portrayals and distant lands. Panoramic painters first used the camera obscura to depict motifs on site, then branched into photography. These depictions served as the basis for panoramic painting. One of the early panoramas from Robert Barker can be viewed on the Internet at: http://www.ex.ac.uk/bill.douglas/collection/panorama/barker.html [status: May 12, 2004].