Who:  Gettysburg National Military Park is working in cooperation the non-profit Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation to restore the Gettysburg Cyclorama painting as part of the planned new museum and visitor center, tentatively set to open in 2007. 

The Museum Foundation has contacted with the firms of Olin Conservation Inc., of Great Falls, Virginia, and Perry Huston & Associates, Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas, and preliminary conservation work will begin in November 2003. 

What:  The colossal oil painting “The Battle of Gettysburg,” was completed in 1884 by Paul Dominique Philippoteaux.  In the days before TV and movies, the impact of the Gettysburg cyclorama painting, and its ability to bring the battle to life for viewers, cannot be overstated.  Veterans were said to stand in its galleries and weep.  Originally 365 feet long by 42 feet high, the painting now measures 359 feet by 27 feet. 

The Problems:  Over the years, much of the scenery and sky were damaged and lost due to poor storage and display.  Originally exhibited in Boston, the painting was then packaged and shipped to venues in other U.S. cities.  During storage in the 1900’s, vandals stole sections of its wooden crate and on three occasions fire damaged the crate.  In 1910 the painting was cut into sections for display in a New Jersey department store. 

In 1913, for the 50^th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, the painting was exhibited in Gettysburg for the first time.  The NPS acquired the painting in 1942.  In 1944 the painting was designated a National Historic Object by the Secretary of the Interior.  The last major restoration of the painting was in 1961.

The current display mounting (stretched at the top only) restricts the painting from assuming its natural hyperbolic shape (when properly stretched at the top and bottom).  The current Cyclorama building does not have adequate interior space to correct this problem. 

Heating and ventilating systems in the building pull air through the canvas, causing dirt to be trapped on the painting surface, which has no protective varnish.  The 1961 restoration applied a wax/resin compound to the back of the canvas.  This compound is now unstable and is accelerating deterioration of the painting.

Treatment Needed:  During a recent six-month study of the painting by Olin & Huston, conservators determined that the canvas is now too weak to support itself, the lining material has buckled and failed, and that glue and lining from the 1961 painting restoration are now unstable and needs to be removed.

The treatment will be conducted in two phases.  Phase one may be performed in the present building and consists of A) cleaning, removal of overpaint, inserts, and grime; B) taking down sections one at a time and removing the lining canvas and wax from the reverse of the painting.  Phase two of the treatment will be performed in the new gallery and includes shaping the painting sections, lining them, and mounting them to a new wall support. 

The Cyclorama Painting’s New Home:  The new museum and visitor center will include a new Cyclorama gallery with a hanging or mounting system to restore the painting to its natural hyperbolic shape, creating an even tension on all areas of the canvas.  The project will include reconstruction of absent panorama features, the three dimensional objects in the foreground of the painting that lend realism to the scene.  The new gallery will have its viewing stand at eye level with the painting’s horizon, and a canopy that hides the top edge of the painting and actually places the viewer in the scene.

When work will begin:  A demonstration project on two of the painting’s panels took place in November 2003. Work on these two sections, which were removed to another facility, is ongoing.

Author: Katie Lawhom at Gettysburg NMP, October 2003
Release Date: 9 October 2003. Revised: 13 April 2004