Monday, June 7, 2010

Gettysburg, Day 2 - Touring





To start the day, we headed to the Gettysburg Visitors Center and Museum.

Just outside the doors was a statue of Abraham Lincoln sitting on a bench.  The boys joined him for a photo op!

Inside were a few displays for the public, but we bought tickets so we could see the movie and cyclorama as well as enter the museum.  Since I'm not a huge history buff, it was nice to hear Morgan Freeman share a bit of history --- what led to the war's beginnings, how it ended up in Gettysburg, and what happened on July 1, 2, and 3 of 1863.

The cyclorama was painted in a year's time.  The French artist Paul Dominique Philippoteaux spent weeks in Gettysburg as he studied the terrain and battlefields.  After much time was spent on the history of the battles, he began painting the incredible piece of art.
Here are some of the scenes that I was able to capture with the camera.  Note the pictures are not with the best light as there was no flash photography.

The painting then runs into replication of real terrain with 1/2 of a well, carts, walls, dirt, straw, trees, etc, etc. It was quite incredible.
And the artist included himself in the cyclorama - but it was too dark for me to get him, so you'll have to just take my word for it.

1 comment:

Becky said...

I have so seen that video a few times. I am a huge American history buff. I also happen to be related to the Union General George McClellan. Of which I am not horribly proud, as he was quite the coward... Anyways, I just love going around and visiting those historical sites. Harpers Ferry, WV is my favorite! It is just the coolest little town.