At the Gettysburg National Historic Park Visitor Center is a media production that includes a full-360 view panoramic painting of the Battle of Gettysburg, which was fought July 1-3 1863.
The painting is now housed in a new facility that is integrated into the Gettysburg National Battlefield Visitor Center (at this location: N39.8110837, W-77.2256501) in a climate controlled room specially built for this painting. It is currently paired with a film called "A New Birth of Freedom." There is an extra cost to see this pairing (no, you can't skip the film just to see the Cyclorama). After the film, you will be led upstairs to the cyclorama, where another media production will use the painting to illustrate the 3rd day of the battle. Then you have some moments to view the painting then you are led to the rest of the museum.
The painting is 42 feet (13 m) high and 377 feet (115 m) in circumference. Set in front are props that look like roads, grass and cannons to help you feel that you are at the battle. It was painted by Paul Philippoteaux in the late 1880s. The Wikipedia article on this painting has a lot in it. In summary, he built a platform near this location, and divided the view into ten sections, had a local photographer take pictures of each view direction, made sketches and interviewed witnesses for his painting. He, with assistants, painted four versions of the Battle. The first one was opened in Chicago, on 10/22/1883 and was well received. It still survives, though it is not currently on display. The second one, this one, was opened for viewing in Boston on 12/22/1884. The building that it was housed in Boston was specially built for the painting and still exists as the home of the Boston Center for the Arts. This is the only other survivor of the Gettysburg Cycloramas and one of only a few cyclorama paintings that have survived. Cycloramas were painted and presented to give people an opportunity to experience a place as if they were there - some have likened it to sitting in an IMAX Theater documentary.
The scene is of the battle in climax. It on the third day of fighting (July 3, 1863), when the Confederate soldiers in Pickett's Charge break into the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. This was the high-water mark for the Confederates not only for the battle, but for the entire U.S. Civil War. Soldiers are engaged from both sides. Smoke is everywhere. There are many landmarks that are recognizable today, including the Copse of Trees and a barn.
Today, there are clouds instead of smoke and the people around are tourists walking around with each instead of soldiers fighting one another. As mentioned, many landmarks are still visible. The copse of trees, by the monument marking the high-water mark is to the southwest (almost south). The barn is to the north.
See the Wikipedia article for pictures of the entire painting. I have parts.
I have also taken pictures in a circle around a white marble monument. Reviewing the pictures, the painter's viewpoint may have been just on the other side of the road, but this marble monument is a good marker. If you take panoramic pictures, it is best that you hold the camera in your hand or on a tripod, attempting to keep the horizon line flat and at the same point in the view. Eight pictures should do for most cameras but there should be some overlap to aid in aligning the pictures.
On my visit, we were driving around the battlefield with one of the audio tour CDs. In the western part of the picture, you can see a thunderstorm approaching. We proceeded to the national cemetery parking when it hit. As we were listening to the CD, lightning and thunder were all around us, and the wind roared through the trees - all aiding the telling of the story of the battle at the place we previously stopped. What a way to experience the battle from produced and natural sensory sources!
Sources:
Wikipedia (Gettysburg Cyclorama):
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visit link)
Waymarking.com (Cyclorama Building):
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visit link)