"The Grand Moving PANORAMA of Pilgrim's Progress"
1999-11-04 until 2000-01-02
Portland Museum of Art
Portland, ME, USA United States of America

Prior to the advent of motion pictures, large painted canvases traveled to communities throughout the nation as a form of entertainment. Recently rediscovered, The Grand Moving Panorama of Pilgrim's Progress, painted in 1850-51, depicts John Bunyan's religious allegory Pilgrim's Progress. The Panorama of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is making its first return to Portland in 154 years.

In its entirety, Panorama of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was an eight-foot high by 850-foot long canvas mounted on wooden rollers that unfurled the painting. Each viewing of the panorama was approximately two hours long and featured music and a lecturer as a tour guide. Shown in meeting houses and barns, the panorama is believed to have been viewed by more than 100,000 people during its first year. Painted by theatrical painters Joseph Kyle and Jacob Dallas, many of the compositions in the panorama are attributed to leading artists of the day, including Frederic Church, Jasper Cropsey, and Daniel Huntington. Unlike the detailed style of easel painting of the time, panoramas were painted with large brush strokes in bright colors meant to be viewed from 30 feet away.

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of Maine

Other Important Exhibitions in Portland