panorama

[Pref. pan-, and horama =a view; horaō =to see; Fr., Sp. & Ital. panorama.] *1. A complete view. 2. A painting of a complete scene, viewed from a central point, or made continuous upon an unroll. ing canvas, as if the spectator were pa ing the particular spots consecutively. The invention of the panorama is due to Barker, a portrait-painter of Edinburgh, who obtained a patent for his invention in 1787. Of late years, the verisimilitude of panoramas has been greatly increased. The spectators stand on a central platform, and the painting forms the boundary of a circular building, while the space from the platform to the painting is real. istically treated. This has been done with great effect in panoramas of battle-scenes, the foreground being strewn with shattered arms, lay-figures of men and horses, and the juncture of the ma and the painting so skillfully effected that it is difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins.