Atlanta, Georgia: Atlanta Cyclorama

Sound 'n' light multimedia recreation of The Battle of Atlanta. Painted in 1886, reopened February 2019 after nearly four years of restoration. Look for Clark Gable's corpse.

We overheard a lot of employee conversations on our visit. We can confirm that the Atlanta Cyclorama will, indeed, be closing this summer and moving to a new location at the Atlanta History Center. Apparently the new location will allow the painting to be refurbished and restored, as it is deteriorating badly.

When the painting moved to its current location in Grant Park, an entire 6 x 50 section had to be removed, along with eight feet of sky all the way around. The move will restore the missing parts.

We overheard an employee tell another visitor that the train [the old steam engine Texas, which caught the steam engine General when Yankees stole it during the Civil War] will also be moving. No word on moving the 3-D diorama portion of the Cyclorama, and an exact moving date was not given.

Just visited today -- fantastic! -- and learned the sad fact that next year, the painting will be moving to the Atlanta History Center in Buckhead. You'll notice I specified just the painting, and not the whole cyclorama; that's because only the painting will be reinstalled, without the moving platform or any of the surrounding foreground diorama, music, narration etc.

What an awful blow to Atlanta culture. Apparently the Cyclorama will only be open in its current form and location until June or July 2015, so see it now if you can.

Well worth the trip, even for those of us who live in the area. The details are amazing and, since a restoration effort years ago, the effect is breathtaking.

This circular sound 'n' light extravaganza depicts the Civil War Battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864. It blends the World's Largest Oil Painting (42 feet high and 358 feet long), painted in 1886, with three-dimensional battle scenes, added to the foreground 50 years later. You view it from an amphitheater that slowly spins twice around while a tour guide points out highlights.

The painting, created in Milwaukee by German and Polish immigrants, was commissioned as publicity by John "Blackjack" Logan, a Union general at the Battle, who ran for Vice-President in 1884. Logan was prominently displayed in one scene, leading other generals into the fray. He lost the election, then didn't pay for his giant painting. It toured with a circus until it came to Atlanta in 1892, where it was permanently installed in 1921. The building was heavily promoted as "fireproof" due to the high incidence of cycloramas of the era going up in smoke.

James Earl Jones narrates an introductory film about the South's heroic attempts to save Atlanta, and at the end there is a museum of weapons, uniforms, and other artifacts. The General locomotive was once displayed here, before it was moved to Kennesaw.

Spoiler Alert: of the thousands of people portrayed in the Cyclorama, there is only one woman and one black man. And in 1940 Rhett Butler was added to the artwork at Clark Gable's request; his face was painted on the body of a dead soldier.