A painting format popular in the 19th century, a cyclorama is a panoramic painting exhibited on a cylindrical platform. A viewer standing in the middle of the cylinder has a 360-degree view of the painting. The goal is to make the viewer feel as though she is standing in the midst of a famous place or an historical event.

Paul Philippoteaux. Union Infantry and Artillery Advancing Toward The Angle (section of the Gettysburg Cyclorama). Oil on canvas. 1883. Visitor Center, Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Photo: Ron Cogswell.