Diorama opens in London

Literary/ Cultural Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University)

Domains

Visual Arts (all)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1823-09-27

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Resources

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The diorama was a brainchild of the developer of photography, Louis Daguerre. The first example opening in London in 1823, it used changing sources of light on a huge translucent canvas to create the illusion of scenes changing over time. It consisted of a canvas painted with scenes on both sides. These were normally similar but transformed in some way, often the same landscape at day and night, or just before and after some terrible catastrophe. These would be alternately lit from in front and behind, to illuminate first one image and then the other. In its innovation and popularity it was the forerunner of cinema later in the century.

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109 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Diorama opens in London". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1788, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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