This past weekend my husband, daughter and I went to tour the Gettysburg battlefield. We started with the auto tour and stopped at various places along the way to climb the viewing tower and climb on the rocks at Little Roundtop. Then we went through the museum and saw the movie, but my favorite part was seeing the cyclorama oil painting completed in 1884 by French artist Paul Philippoteaux. The "Battle of Gettysburg" depicts the battle called Pickett's charge that took place on July 3, 1863. He had a team of assistants help him finish it in a year and a-half. The painting is 359 feet long, 27 feet high and weighs 3 tons! I have never seen a circular painting before so this was a new experience for me. When you go up into the room, the lights are low and then they use lights to direct your attention to the various events of the day. There are so many dead soldiers and horses... it is really overwhelming. (photo from national park service)
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