Currently on show in HM General Register House, Adam Dome, is a reproduction of the first ever panorama showing Edinburgh from Calton Hill in the 18th century.
Originally created by the University of Edinburgh, this display is on loan and will be on show from 26 May to 27 June, Monday to Friday 09:00-16:00.
Read on to find out more about how the first panorama was created.
Robert Barker (1739-1806)
Robert Barker of Kells, Ireland was a successful Irish painter of portraits and miniatures. Barker had moved to Edinburgh, it is thought to escape debts in his native land. While taking a walk on Calton Hill in Edinburgh with his daughter he was struck with an idea of capturing the breathtaking view of Scotland’s capital. He wondered if it was possible to give the whole view from that hill in one picture. Barker explained that it might be accomplished by a ‘square frame fixed at one spot on the hill: he would draw the scene presented within that frame and then shifting the frame to the left or right, he would draw the adjoining part of the landscape’ turning around on the top of the hill until he obtained the view on all sides. The views would then be put together in a circle and the viewer positioned in the centre. They would see the view as if from the summit of the hill.
Barker called his invention ‘La nature a coup d’oeil’ or nature at a glance and sought to recreate a realistic view of a landscape in a circular painting. Barker charged his 12 year old son, Henry Aston Barker, to make the initial drawings of Edinburgh from the Observatory on Calton Hill. From these, Barker would create the final large-scale landscape painting which was exhibited. Barker’s chosen medium was watercolour and he finished the 25 feet in diameter painting in the Guard Room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Henry Aston Barker was born in Glasgow, 15 March 1774
National Records of Scotland, Glasgow OPR, 644/1
Barker was so convinced that his invention would be a success, he patented his idea in 1787 and described how he intended:
to perfect an entire view of any country or situation as it appears to an observer turning quite around
The first ‘observers’ were the people of the city itself. As the audience was familiar with the landscape they were viewing, the accuracy of Barker’s 360 degree view of the city was paramount. In 1788 the drawing was shown at Archer’s Hall (now located at 66 Buccleuch Street) and in the city’s Assembly Rooms in the New Town. It was also shown in Glasgow.
Fuelled by the success of his Edinburgh painting, Barker took his idea to London. His son Henry was sent to observe and draw the city from the roof of Blackfriars Bridge. From these studies a larger painting was produced, larger in scale to the Edinburgh painting. Barker built a wooden rotunda, located at Leicester Square to show his London ‘panorama’, charging one shilling per view. The London spectacle was another success and soon Henry was sent abroad to capture topical scenes from Europe.
Design for the Panorama Rotunda, Leicester Square, by Robert Mitchell in Plans, And Views In Perspective, With Descriptions, Of Buildings Erected In England And Scotland, (London: printed for the author and sold by J. Taylor, 1801). Image courtesy of the University of Edinburgh.
Henry Aston Barker took over his father’s business in 1806 when Robert Barker died. He achieved similar success to his father. His representation of the Battle of Waterloo was such a triumph that he took early retirement at the age of 48. In 1801, Barker’s original patent had expired and other individuals created their own panoramas.
Barker’s panorama of Rome was exhibited in August 1818. This diagram of the circular painting is from an explanatory book, ‘descriptive of the Picture, to be had at the door, price sixpence’(Caledonian Mercury, 31 August 1818). NRS, GD253/188/6, with kind permission of the John
It also contained a narrative for each landmark, seen below:
Descriptions of the landmarks in Rome, set out in Barker’s ‘Grand Circular Painting’ of Rome. NRS, GD253/188/6, with kind permission from the owners of the John Hope collection.
The craze for panoramas had not left Edinburgh. In fact a wooden rotunda had been built in the city to specifically show Barker’s panoramas. It was located opposite Gayfield Square, near the current location of the Edinburgh Playhouse. In September 1806, the 50 foot rotunda was up for sale, and panoramas could continue to be shown in the circular space supplied by ‘Henry Aston Barker of Leicester Square, London.’
Advertisement on the front page of the Caledonian Mercury, selling the wooden rotunda used to house Barker’s panorama. 13 September 1806 [Image in the Public Domain, from British Newspaper Archives].
