
A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies such as
military vehicle modeling,
miniature figure modeling, or
aircraft modeling.
In the United States around 1950 and onward,
natural history dioramas in museums became less fashionable, leading to many being removed, dismantled or destroyed.
Etymology
The word "diorama" originated in 1823 as a type of picture-viewing device, from the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
in 1822. The word literally means "through that which is seen", from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
di- "through" + orama "that which is seen, a sight". The diorama was invented by
Louis Daguerre
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre ( , ; 18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851) was a French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photog ...
and
Charles Marie Bouton,
first exhibited in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
in July 1822 and at
The Diorama, Regent's Park
The Diorama, Regent’s Park, London was a specialised theatre built in 1823 to show large, dramatized tableaux paintings as entertainment.
Origins in London
Dioramas were perspective painted scenes dramatized with lighting and other effects wh ...
on September 29, 1823. The meaning "small-scale replica of a scene, etc." is from 1902.
Daguerre's and Bouton's diorama consisted of a piece of material painted on both sides. When illuminated from the front, the scene would be shown in one state and by switching to illumination from behind another phase or aspect would be seen. Scenes in daylight changed to moonlight, a train travelling on a track would crash, or an earthquake would be shown in before and after pictures.
Modern

The current, popular understanding of the term "diorama" denotes a partially three-dimensional, full-size replica or
scale model
A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototype ...
of a landscape typically showing historical events, nature scenes or cityscapes, for purposes of education or entertainment.
One of the first uses of dioramas in a museum was in
Stockholm,
Sweden, where the
Biological Museum opened in 1893. It had several dioramas, over three floors. They were also implemented by the
National Museum Grigore Antipa from Bucharest Romania and constituted a source of inspiration for many important museums in the world (such as the
American Museum of Natural History in New York and the
Great Oceanographic Museum in Berlin)
eference below
Miniature
Miniature dioramas are typically much smaller, and use scale models and landscaping to create historical or fictional scenes. Such a scale model-based diorama is used, for example, in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
's
Museum of Science and Industry to display
railroading. This diorama employs a common
model railroading scale of 1:87 (
HO scale). Hobbyist dioramas often use scales such as 1:35 or 1:48.
An early, and exceptionally large example was created between 1830 and 1838 by a British Army officer.
William Siborne, and represents the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh C ...
at about 7.45 pm, on 18 June 1815. The diorama measures and used around 70,000 model soldiers in its construction. It is now part of the collection of the
National Army Museum in London.
Sheperd Paine
Howard Sheperd "Shep" Paine was a military historian and a collector of militaria best known for the more than three decades he spent as a modeler, sculptor, miniature figure painter, and champion of the diorama. Paine arguably did more than any ...
, a prominent hobbyist, popularized the modern miniature diorama beginning in the 1970s.
Full-size
Modern museum dioramas may be seen in most major natural-history museums. Typically, these displays use a tilted plane to represent what would otherwise be a level surface, incorporate a painted background of distant objects, and often employ false perspective, carefully modifying the scale of objects placed on the plane to reinforce the
illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people.
Illusions may ...
through
depth perception
Depth perception is the ability to perceive distance to objects in the world using the visual system and visual perception. It is a major factor in perceiving the world in three dimensions. Depth perception happens primarily due to stereopsi ...
in which objects of identical real-world size placed farther from the observer appear smaller than those closer. Often the distant painted background or sky will be painted upon a continuous curved surface so that the viewer is not distracted by corners, seams, or edges. All of these techniques are means of presenting a realistic view of a large scene in a compact space. A photograph or single-eye view of such a diorama can be especially convincing, since in this case there is no distraction by the
binocular perception of depth.
Uses
Miniature dioramas may be used to represent scenes from historic events. A typical example of this type is the dioramas to be seen at
Norway's Resistance Museum in
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
.
Landscapes built around model railways can also be considered dioramas, even though they often have to compromise scale accuracy for better operating characteristics.
Hobbyists also build dioramas of historical or quasi-historical events using a variety of materials, including
plastic models of military vehicles, ships or other equipment, along with scale figures and landscaping.
In the 19th and beginning 20th century, building dioramas of sailing ships had been a popular handcraft of mariners. Building a diorama instead of a normal model had the advantage that in the diorama, the model was protected inside the framework and could easily be stowed below the bunk or behind the sea chest. Nowadays, such antique sailing ship dioramas are valuable collectors' items.
One of the largest dioramas ever created was a model of the entire State of
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
built for the
Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 and that for a long time was installed in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
's
Ferry Building.
Dioramas are widely used in the
American educational system
Education in the United States is provided in public and private schools and by individuals through homeschooling. State governments set overall educational standards, often mandate standardized tests for K–12 public school systems and sup ...
, mostly in elementary and middle schools. They are often made to represent historical events, ecological
biomes
A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...
, cultural scenes, or to visually depict literature. They are usually made from a shoebox and contain a
trompe-l'œil
''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...
in the background contrasted with two or three-dimensional models in the foreground.
Historic
Daguerre and Bouton

The Diorama was a popular entertainment that originated in Paris in 1822. An alternative to the also popular "
Panorama
A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...
" (
panoramic painting), the Diorama was a theatrical experience viewed by an audience in a highly specialized theatre. As many as 350 patrons would file in to view a landscape painting that would change its appearance both subtly and dramatically. Most would stand, though limited seating was provided. The show lasted 10 to 15 minutes, after which time the entire audience (on a massive turntable) would rotate to view a second painting. Later models of the Diorama theater even held a third painting.
The size of the
proscenium was wide by high (7.3 meters x 6.4 meters). Each scene was hand-painted on linen, which was made transparent in selected areas. A series of these multi-layered, linen panels were arranged in a deep, truncated tunnel, then illuminated by sunlight re-directed via skylights, screens, shutters, and colored blinds. Depending on the direction and intensity of the skillfully manipulated light, the scene would appear to change. The effect was so subtle and finely rendered that both critics and the public were astounded, believing they were looking at a natural scene.
The inventors and proprietors of the Diorama were
Charles-Marie Bouton (1781– 1853), a Troubador painter who also worked at the Panorama under Pierre Prévost, and
Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre ( , ; 18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851) was a French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photog ...
(1787–1851), formerly a decorator, manufacturer of mirrors, painter of Panoramas, and designer and painter of theatrical stage illusions. Daguerre would later co-invent the
daguerreotype
Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process.
Invented by Louis Daguerre ...
, the first widely used method of
photography
Photography is the visual art, art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It i ...
.
A second
diorama in Regent's Park in London was opened by an association of British men (having bought Daguerre's tableaux) in 1823, a year after the debut of Daguerre's Paris original. The building was designed by
Augustus Charles Pugin. Bouton operated the Regent's Park diorama from 1930 to 1940, when it was taken over by his protégé, the painter
Charles-Caïus Renoux.
The Regent's Park diorama was a popular sensation, and spawned immediate imitations. British artists like
Clarkson Stanfield and
David Roberts produced ever-more elaborate (moving) dioramas through the 1830s; sound effects and even living performers were added. Some "typical diorama effects included moonlit nights, winter snow turning into a summer meadow, rainbows after a storm, illuminated fountains," waterfalls, thunder and lightning, and ringing bells. A diorama painted by Daguerre is currently housed in the church of the French town
Bry-sur-Marne, where he lived and died.
;Daguerre diorama exhibitions (R.D. Wood, 1993):
Exhibition venues : Paris (Pa.1822-28) : London (Lo.1823-32) : Liverpool (Li.1827-32) : Manchester (Ma.1825-27) : Dublin (Du.1826-28) : Edinburgh (Ed.1828-36)
*The Valley of Sarnen :: (Pa.1822-23) : (Lo.1823-24) : (Li.1827-28) : (Ma.1825) : (Du.1826-27) : (Ed. 1828-29 & 1831)
*The Harbour of Brest :: (Pa.1823) : (Lo.1824-25 & 1837) : (Li.1825-26) : (Ma.1826-27) : (Ed. 1834-35)
*The Holyrood Chapel :: (Pa.1823-24) : (Lo.1825) : (Li.1827-28) : (Ma.1827) : (Du.1828) : (Ed.1829-30)
*The Roslin Chapel :: (Pa.1824-25) : (Lo.1826-27) : (Li.1828-29) : (Du.1827-28) : (Ed.1835)
*The Ruins in a Fog :: (Pa.1825-26) : (Lo.1827-28) : (Ed.1832-33)
*The Village of Unterseen :: (Pa.1826-27) : (Lo.1828-29) : (Li.1832) : (Ed.1833-34 & 1838)
*The Village of Thiers :: (Pa.1827-28) : (Lo.1829-30) : (Ed. 1838-39)
*The Mont St. Godard :: (Pa.1828-29) : (Lo.1830-32) : (Ed.1835-36)
Gottstein
Until 1968, Britain boasted a large collection of dioramas. These collections were originally housed in the
Royal United Services Institute Museum, (formerly the
Banqueting House), in
Whitehall
Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament ...
. When the museum closed, the various exhibits and their 15 known dioramas were distributed to smaller museums throughout
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, some ending up in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
and elsewhere. These dioramas were the brainchild of the wealthy furrier Otto Gottstein (1892–1951) of
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
, a Jewish immigrant from
Hitler's Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, who was an avid collector and designer of flat model figures called flats. In 1930, Gottstein's influence is first seen at the Leipzig International Exhibition, along with the dioramas of Hahnemann of
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...
, Biebel of
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
and Muller of
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits ...
, all displaying their own figures, and those commissioned from such as Ludwig Frank in large diorama form. In 1933, Gottstein left Germany, and in 1935 founded the British Model Soldier Society. Gottstein persuaded designer and painter friends in both
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
to help in the construction of dioramas depicting notable events in English history. But due to the war, many of the figures arrived in England incomplete. The task of turning Gottstein's ideas into reality fell to his English friends and those friends who had managed to escape from the Continent. Dennis (Denny) C. Stokes, a talented painter and diorama maker in his own right, was responsible for the painting of the backgrounds of all the dioramas, creating a unity seen throughout the whole series. Denny Stokes was given the overall supervision of the fifteen dioramas.
# The Landing of the Romans under
Julius Caesar in 55 B.C.
# The
Battle of Hastings
# The Storming of
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...
(figures by Muller)
# The
Battle of Crecy (figures by Muller)
# The
Field of the Cloth of Gold
The Field of the Cloth of Gold (french: Camp du Drap d'Or, ) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the Englis ...
#
Queen Elizabeth reviewing her troops at Tilbury
# The
Battle of Marston Moor
The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1639 – 1653. The combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters u ...
# The
Battle of Blenheim
The Battle of Blenheim (german: Zweite Schlacht bei Höchstädt, link=no; french: Bataille de Höchstädt, link=no; nl, Slag bij Blenheim, link=no) fought on , was a major battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The overwhelming Allied v ...
(painted by Douchkine)
# The
Battle of Plessey
# The
Battle of Quebec (engraved by Krunert of Vienna)
# The
Old Guard at
Waterloo
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat
* Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place.
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Antarctica
*King George Island (S ...
# The
Charge of the Light Brigade
The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimea ...
# The
Battle of Ulundi
The Battle of Ulundi took place at the Zulu capital of Ulundi (Zulu:''oNdini'') on 4 July 1879 and was the last major battle of the Anglo-Zulu War. The British army broke the military power of the Zulu nation by defeating the main Zulu army ...
(figures by Ochel and Petrocochino/Paul Armont)
# The Battle of Fleurs
# The
D-Day landings
Krunert, Schirmer, Frank, Frauendorf, Maier, Franz Rieche, and Oesterrich were also involved in the manufacture and design of figures for the various dioramas. Krunert (a Viennese), like Gottstein an exile in London, was given the job of engraving for ''The Battle of Quebec''. ''The Death of Wolfe'' was found to be inaccurate and had to be redesigned. The names of the vast majority of painters employed by Gottstein are mostly unknown, most lived and worked on the continent, among them Gustave Kenmow, Leopold Rieche, L. Dunekate, M. Alexandre, A. Ochel, Honey Ray, and, perhaps Gottstein's top painter, Vladimir Douchkine (a Russian émigré who lived in Paris). Douchkine was responsible for painting two figures of the
Duke of Marlborough on horseback for ''‘The Blenheim Diorama’'', one of which was used, the other, Gottstein being the true collector, was never released.
Denny Stokes painted all the backgrounds of all the dioramas, Herbert Norris, the Historical Costume Designer, whom Dr. J. F. Lovel-Barnes introduced to Gottstein, was responsible for the costume design of the
Ancient Britons, the
Normans
The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. T ...
and
Saxons, some of the figures of ''The Field of the Cloth of Gold'' and the
Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personif ...
figures for ''Queen Elizabeth at Tilbury''. Dr. J.F. Lovel-Barnes was responsible for ''The Battle of Blenheim'', selecting the figures, and arrangement of the scene. Due to World War II, when flat figures became unavailable, Gottstein completed his ideas by using Greenwood and Ball's 20 mm figures. In time, a fifteenth diorama was added, using these 20 mm figures, this diorama representing the D-Day landings. When all the dioramas were completed, they were displayed along one wall in the
Royal United Services Institute Museum. When the museum was closed the fifteen dioramas were distributed to various museums and institutions. The greatest number are to be found at the
Glenbow Museum, (130-9th Avenue, S. E. Calgary, Alberta, Canada): RE: ''The Landing of the Romans under Julius Caesar in 55 BC'', ''Battle Of Crecy'', ''The Battle of Blenheim'', ''The Old Guard at Waterloo'' and ''The Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava''.
The state of these dioramas is one of debate; John Garratt (''The World of Model Soldiers'') claimed in 1968, that the dioramas "appear to have been partially broken up and individual figures have been sold to collectors". According to the Glenbow Institute (Barry Agnew, curator) "the figures are still in reasonable condition, but the plaster groundwork has suffered considerable deterioration". There are no photographs available of the dioramas. ''The Battle of Hastings'' diorama was to be found in the Old Town Museum,
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west a ...
, and is still in reasonable condition. It shows the Norman cavalry charging up
Senlac Hill toward the Saxon lines.
''The Storming of Acre'' is in the Museum of Artillery at the Rotunda,
Woolwich. John Garratt, in ''Encyclopedia of Model Soldiers'', states that ''The Field of the Cloth of Gold'' was in the possession of the
Royal Military School of Music
The Royal Military School of Music (RMSM) trains musicians for the British Army's fourteen regular bands, as part of the Royal Corps of Army Music. Until August 2021, the school was based at Kneller Hall in Twickenham, however it moved to HMS ...
,
Kneller Hall
Kneller Hall is a Grade II listed mansion in Whitton, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It housed the Royal Military School of Music, training musicians for the British Army, which acquired the building in the mid-19th century. It ...
; according to the curator, the diorama had not been in his possession since 1980, nor is it listed in their Accession Book, so the whereabouts of this diorama is unknown.
''The Battle of Ulundi'' is housed in the Staffordshire Regiment Museum at Whittington near Lichfield in Staffordshire, UK
Wong
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
artist
Frank Wong
Frank Wong (born September 22, 1932) is a San Francisco, California artist who creates miniature dioramas that depict the San Francisco Chinatown of Wong's youth during the 1930s and 1940s. His works include his grandmother's kitchen, the family' ...
(born 22 September 1932) created
miniature dioramas that depict the
San Francisco Chinatown of his youth during the 1930s and 1940s.
In 2004, Wong donated seven miniatures of scenes of Chinatown, titled "The Chinatown Miniatures Collection", to Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA).
[ The dioramas are on permanent display in CHSA's Main Gallery:]
# "The Moon Festival"
# "Shoeshine Stand"
# "Chinese New Year"
# "Chinese Laundry"
# "Christmas Scene"
# "Single Room"
# "Herb Store"
Documentary
San Francisco filmmaker James Chan is producing and directing a documentary about Wong and the "changing landscape of Chinatown" in San Francisco. The documentary is tentatively titled, "Frank Wong's Chinatown".[
]
Other
Painters of the Romantic
Romantic may refer to:
Genres and eras
* The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries
** Romantic music, of that era
** Romantic poetry, of that era
** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
era like John Martin John Martin may refer to:
Business
*John Martin (businessman) (1820–1905), American lumberman and flour miller
*John Charles Martin (fl. 1913–1931), American newspaper publisher
*John Martin (publisher) (born 1930), American founder of Black ...
and Francis Danby were influenced to create large and highly dramatic pictures by the sensational dioramas and panoramas of their day. In one case, the connection between life and diorama art became intensely circular. On 1 February 1829, John Martin's brother Jonathan, known as "Mad Martin," set fire to the roof of York Minster
The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archb ...
. Clarkson Stanfield created a diorama re-enactment of the event, which premiered on 20 April of the same year; it employed a "safe fire" via chemical reaction as a special effect. On 27 May, the "safe" fire proved to be less safe than planned: it set a real fire in the painted cloths of the imitation fire, which burned down the theater and all of its dioramas.
Nonetheless, dioramas remained popular in England, Scotland, and Ireland through most of the 19th century, lasting until 1880.
A small scale version of the diorama called the Polyrama Panoptique
The Polyorama Panoptique was an optical toy popular from the 1820s through to the 1850s. It was invented by Pierre Seguin as development of the earlier "protean view".Erkki Huhtamo's Polyorama Panoptique essay, ''The Book of Imaginary Media: Excav ...
could display images in the home and was marketed from the 1820s.
Natural history
Natural history dioramas seek to imitate nature and, since their conception in the late 19th century, aim to "nurture a reverence for nature ith itsbeauty and grandeur". They have also been described as a means to visually preserve nature as different environments change due to human involvement. They were extremely popular during the first half of the 20th century, both in the US and UK, later on giving way to television, film, and new perspectives on science.
Like historical dioramas, natural history dioramas are a mix of two- and three-dimensional elements. What sets natural history dioramas apart from other categories is the use of taxidermy in addition to the foreground replicas and painted background. The use of taxidermy means that natural history dioramas derive not only from Daguerre's work, but also from that of taxidermists, who were used to preparing specimens for either science or spectacle. It was only with the dioramas' precursors (and, later on, dioramas) that both these objectives merged. Popular diorama precursors were produced by Charles Willson Peale
Charles Willson Peale (April 15, 1741 – February 22, 1827) was an American painter, soldier, scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution, and ...
, an artist with an interest in taxidermy, during the early 19th century. To present his specimens, Peale "painted skies and landscapes on the back of cases displaying his taxidermy specimens". By the late 19th century, the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...
held an exhibition featuring taxidermy birds set on models of plants.
The first habitat diorama created for a museum was constructed by taxidermist Carl Akeley for the Milwaukee Public Museum in 1889, where it is still held. Akeley set taxidermy muskrats in a three-dimensional re-creation of their wetland habitat with a realistic painted background. With the support of curator Frank M. Chapman
Frank Michler Chapman (June 12, 1864 – November 15, 1945) was an American ornithologist and pioneering writer of field guides.
Biography
Chapman was born in West Englewood, New Jersey and attended Englewood Academy. He joined the staff of ...
, Akeley designed the popular habitat dioramas featured at the American Museum of Natural History. Combining art with science, these exhibitions were intended to educate the public about the growing need for habitat conservation. The modern AMNH Exhibitions Lab is charged with the creation of all dioramas and otherwise immersive environments in the museum.[Stephen Christopher Quinn, Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History, Abrams, New York, 2006.]
A predecessor of Akeley, naturalist and taxidermist Martha Maxwell
Martha Ann Maxwell (née Dartt 21 July 1831 – 31 May 1881) was an American naturalist, artist and taxidermist. She helped found modern taxidermy. Maxwell's pioneering diorama displays are said to have influenced major figures in taxidermy h ...
created a famous habitat diorama for the first World's Fair in 1876. The complex diorama featured taxidermied animals in realistic action poses, running water, and live prairie dogs. It is speculated that this display was the first of its kind utside of a museum[ Maxwell's pioneering diorama work is said to have influenced major figures in taxidermy history who entered the field later, such as Akeley and William Temple Hornaday.][
Soon, the concern for accuracy came. Groups of scientists, taxidermists, and artists would go on expeditions to ensure accurate backgrounds and collect specimens, though some would be donated by game hunters. Natural history dioramas reached the peak of their grandeur with the opening of the Akeley Hall of African Mammals in 1936, which featured large animals, such as elephants, surrounded by even larger scenery.][ Nowadays, various institutions lay different claims to notable dioramas. The Milwaukee Public Museum still displays the world's first diorama, created by Akeley; the American Museum of Natural History, in New York, has what might be the world's largest diorama: a life-size replica of a blue whale; the Biological Museum in Stockholm, Sweden is known for its three dioramas, all created in 1893, and all in original condition; the ]Powell-Cotton Museum
The Powell-Cotton Museum is situated in Quex Park, Birchington, Kent and houses the diverse personal collections of hunter and explorer Percy Powell-Cotton. The museum also contains the collections of Powell-Cotton's two daughters, Antoinette an ...
, in Kent, UK, is known for having the world's oldest, unchanged, room-sized diorama, built in 1896.
Construction
Natural history dioramas typically consist of 3 parts:
# The painted background
# The foreground
# Taxidermy specimens[Tunnicliffe & Scheersoi, 2014, p. 2.]
Preparations for the background begin in the field,[ where an artist takes photographs and sketches references pieces. Once back at the museum, the artist has to depict the scenery with as much realism as possible.][ The challenge lies in the fact that the wall used is curved: this allows the background to surround the display without seams joining different panels. At times the wall also curves upward to meet the light above and form a sky. By having a curved wall, whatever the artist paints will be distorted by perspective; it is the artist's job to paint in such a way that minimises this distortion.
The foreground is created to mimic the ground, plants and other accessories to scenery. The ground, hills, rocks, and large trees are created with wood, wire mesh, and plaster. Smaller trees are either used in their entirety or replicated using casts. Grasses and shrubs can be preserved in solution or dried to then be added to the diorama. Ground debris, such as leaf litter, is collected on site and soaked in wallpaper paste for preservation and presentation in the diorama. Water is simulated using glass or plexiglass with ripples carved on the surface. For a diorama to be successful, the foreground and background must merge, so both artists have to work together.
Taxidermy specimens are usually the centrepiece of dioramas. Since they must entertain, as well as educate, specimens are set in lifelike poses, so as to convey a narrative of an animal's life. Smaller animals are usually made with rubber moulds and painted. Larger animals are prepared by first making a clay sculpture of the animal. This sculpture is made over the actual, posed skeleton of the animal, with reference to moulds and measurements taken on the field. A papier-mâché mannequin is prepared from the clay sculpture, and the animal's tanned skin is sewn onto the mannequin. Glass eyes substitute the real ones.
If an animal is large enough, the scaffolding that holds the specimen needs to be incorporated into the foreground design and construction.
]
Lego
Lego dioramas are dioramas that are built from Lego
Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlockin ...
pieces. These dioramas range from small vignettes to large, table-sized displays, and are sometimes constructed in a collaboration of two or more people. Some engage in the building of Lego dioramas.
See also
* Armor Modeling and Preservation Society
* Cosmorama
* Cyclorama
* Model airport
* Moving panorama
* Myriorama
* Nativity scene
* Model figure
* Toy
* Toy soldier
Notes
References
Dioramas Muzeul National de Istorie Naturala Grigore Antipa
* Gernsheim, Helmut; Gernsheim, Alison (1968). ''L.J.M. Daguerre, The History of The Diorama and the Daguerreotype''. Dover Publications.
*
External links
R. D. Wood's Essays on the early history of photography and the Diorama
The world's largest collection of antique sailing ship dioramas
World War II Dioramas in 1:35 scale
A diorama video taken using an Olympus E-PM1 camera
The Brothers Brick
– an outlet for Lego builders to display their dioramas
{{Authority control
Audiovisual introductions in 1822
Scale modeling
Figurines
Visual arts genres
Landscape art by medium
1820s neologisms