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Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre
Diorama, Regent's-park
1830
Book page
Google Books
LL/35584
Leigh's New Picture of London (London: Samuel Leigh, 1830), p.315
DIORAMA,
Regent's-park.
The Diorama, which had long been an object of wonder and delight at Paris, was first opened in London, Sept. 29,1823. It differs from the panorama in this respect, that, instead of a circular view of the objects represented, it exhibits the whole picture at once in perspective, and it is decidedly superior both to the panorama and the cosmorama in the fidelity with which the objects are depicted, and in the completeness of the illusion. The interior of the building resembles a small theatre, the part allotted to spectators consisting of a tier of boxes, elevated three or four feet above the amphitheatre or pit. Above is a circular ceiling, ornamented with transparent devices, and surrounded with medallions of eminent painters and sculptors. The whole is moveable, and is made to revolve with the spectators, at intervals of a quarter of an hour, so that as one picture recedes, the other comes gradually into view. Such is the effect produced by the disposition of the building, and by the various modifications of light and shade, that the optical deception is complete, and it is difficult for the spectator to persuade himself that he is only contemplating a work of art. Messrs. Bouton and Daguerre are the artists employed. Admission, boxes, 3s., amphitheatre, 2s., description, gratis.
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