HISTORICAL FILMS

​

Four years in the making, this multi-layered program follows the process of removing the Gettysburg Cyclorama painting from the old visitors center building on Cemetery Ridge, cleaning and restoring it, and re-hanging the panels in the new Visitor Center on Baltimore Pike. Like the original painting itself, the restoration was a monumental effort, involving artists and experts from all over the world. This program not only captures all of the painstaking work to save and restore the painting, but also recreates the original work itself, from Paul Philippoteaux’s first visit to Gettysburg in the 1880s to the premiere for the Cyclorama in Boston. But there is more: the event itself – Pickett’s Charge – is also included, giving this documentary a deep, rich, textured presentation that touches on all aspects of the painting, the restoration and the battle action depicted. Running time is 47 minutes.