Thursday, August 29, 2013
Atlanta has a deep and rich history that dates all the way back to 1837 when the state of Georgia needed a terminus to a rail line leading to the midwest. From its small beginnings to the major metropolitan area that it is today, the city has always been a cultural mecca. Atlanta has played a role in the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and historical and contemporary art movements and today I would like to feature the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta. The Cyclorama features a sweeping panorama of the Battle of Atlanta, fought on July 22, 1864. William Wehner, the manager for the American Panorama Company, placed the Battle of Atlanta on exhibition in Detroit in 1887. This was the first of several stops on a tour of large cities that ended in Indianapolis, where the painting was displayed in 1888. During the tour it was publicized as “Logan’s Great Battle,” in reference to General John A. Logan, commander of the Union Army of the Tennessee in the Battle of Atlanta. According to tradition, the painting was originally commissioned to boost Logan’s vice presidential candidacy on the ticket with James G. Blaine in 1884. But the timing was off by two years, and General Logan, who died in 1886, probably never saw the completed work. The painting, which stands 358 feet wide by 42 feet tall and covers a 15,030 square foot area, was bought by Paul Atkinson of Madison, Georgia, in 1890 and moved to the Grant Park neighborhood in 1893.
A Civil War era cannon sits on display at the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
Civil War memorabilia from the Battle of Atlanta sits on display at the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
Todd Curry (right) and his son Abe look at the Texas locomotive inside the museum portion of the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
A Civil War era cannon sits on display at the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
Nancy Kletzing (left) her husband Joel and two sons Daniel and Benjamin look at the Texas locomotive inside the museum portion of the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
Derrick Williams (right) uses a flashlight to point out different features of the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
Benjamin Kletzing (left) and his mother Nancy look at the different scenes from the Battle of Atlanta at the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
128 soldiers have been sculpted to add a three-dimensional element of realism to the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta.
Frieda Pereira looks at the different scenes from the Battle of Atlanta at the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
128 soldiers have been sculpted to add a three-dimensional element of realism to the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta.
Nancy Kletzing (left), her two sons Benjamin and Daniel and her husband Joel look at the different scenes from the Battle of Atlanta at the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
128 soldiers have been sculpted to add a three-dimensional element of realism to the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta.
Jenna Gomes (right) looks at the different scenes from the Battle of Atlanta at the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
Frieda Pereira (left), Janice Manassa and Flo Auerbach look at the different scenes from the Battle of Atlanta at the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
128 soldiers have been sculpted to add a three-dimensional element of realism to the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta.
Derrick Williams (right) uses a flashlight to point out different features of the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.
Abe Curry looks at the Texas locomotive inside the museum portion of the Cyclorama in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta on Thursday, August 29, 2013.