Editing Panoramic painting (section)

==Romantic criticism of panoramas==
The panorama's rise in popularity was a result of its accessibility in that people did not need a certain level of education to enjoy the views it offered.<ref name="ellis2">Ellis 2008, p. 142</ref> Accordingly, patrons from across the social scale flocked to rotundas throughout Europe.<ref name="ellis2" />

While easy access was an attraction of the panorama, some people believed it was nothing more than a parlor trick bent on deceiving its public audience. Designed to have a lingering effect upon the viewer, the panorama was placed in the same category as propaganda of the period, which was also seen as deceitful.<ref>Thomas 2005, p. 20</ref> The locality paradox also attributed to the arguments of panorama critics.<ref name="ellis" /> A phenomenon resulting from immersion in a panorama, the locality paradox happened when people were unable to distinguish where they were: in the rotunda or at the scene they were seeing.<ref name="ellis" />

People could immerse themselves in the scene and take part in what became known as the locality paradox.<ref name=ellis/> The locality paradox refers to the phenomenon where spectators are so taken with the panorama they cannot distinguish where they are: Leicester Square or, for example, the Albion Mills.<ref name=ellis/>
This association with delusion was a common critique of panoramas. Writers also feared the panorama for the simplicity of its illusion. [[Hester Piozzi]] was among those who rebelled against the growing popularity of the panorama for precisely this reason.<ref name="ellis2" /> She did not like seeing so many people – elite and otherwise – fooled by something so simple.<ref name="ellis2" />

Another problem with the panorama was what it came to be associated with, namely, by redefining the sublime to incorporate the material.<ref>Jones 2006, p. 360</ref> In their earliest forms, panoramas depicted topographical scenes and in so doing, made the sublime accessible to every person with 3 shillings in his or her pocket.<ref>Wilcox 2007, p. 1</ref> The sublime became an everyday thing and therefore, a material commodity. By associating the sublime with the material, the panorama was seen as a threat to romanticism, which was obsessed with the sublime.<ref>Jones 2006, p.360</ref> According to the romantics, the sublime was never supposed to include materiality and by linking the two, panoramas tainted the sublime.

The poet [[William Wordsworth]] has long been characterized as an opponent of the panorama, most notably for his allusion to it in Book Seven of ''[[The Prelude]]''.<ref name="ellis1">Ellis 2008, p. 145</ref> It has been argued that Wordsworth's problem with the panorama was the deceit it used to gain popularity.<ref name="haut">Haut 2009, p. 314</ref> He felt, critics say, that the panorama not only exhibited an immense scene of some kind, but also the weakness of human intelligence.<ref name="ellis1" /> Wordsworth was offended by the fact that so many people found panoramas irresistible and concluded that people were not smart enough to see through the charade.<ref name="ellis1" /> Because of his argument in ''The Prelude'', it is safe to assume Wordsworth saw a panorama at some point during his life, but it is unknown which one he saw; there is no substantial proof he ever went, other than his description in the poem.<ref name="jones">Jones 2006, p. 364</ref>

However, Wordsworth's hatred of the panorama was not limited to its deceit. The panorama's association with the sublime was likewise offensive to the poet as were other spectacles of the period that competed with reality.<ref>Miles 2005, p. 14</ref><ref name="romantic.arhu.umd.edu">Miles, Robert. "Introduction: Gothic Romance as Visual Technology." ''Gothic Technologies: Visuality in the Romantic Era.'' Ed. Robert Miles. 2005. Praxis Series. 31 January 2010. {{cite web |url=http://romantic.arhu.umd.edu/praxis/gothic/thomas/thomas.html |title=Thomas -"Making Visible: The Diorama, the Double and the (Gothic) Subject"- Gothic Technologies: Visuality in the Romantic Era - Praxis Series - Romantic Circles |accessdate=21 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20121215042002/http://romantic.arhu.umd.edu/praxis/gothic/thomas/thomas.html |archivedate=15 December 2012  }}.</ref> As a poet, Wordsworth sought to separate his craft from the [[phantasmagoria]] enveloping the population.<ref>Miles 2005, p. 18</ref> In this context, phantasmagoria refers to signs and other circulated propaganda, including billboards, illustrated newspapers and panoramas themselves.<ref>Miles 2005, pp. 14–15</ref> Wordsworth's biggest problem with panoramas was their pretense: the panorama lulled spectators into stupors, inhibiting their ability to imagine things for themselves.<ref name="haut" /> For Wordsworth, panoramas more or less brainwashed their audiences.<ref name="Haut, Asia 2009"/> Perhaps Wordsworth's biggest problem with panoramas was their popularity.<ref name="Haut, Asia 2009">Haut, Asia. "Reading the Visual." Oxford Art Journal: 32, 2, 2009.</ref> Wordsworth wanted people to see the representation depicted in the panorama and appreciate it for what it was – art.<ref name="ellis1" />

Conversely, J. Jennifer Jones argues Wordsworth was not opposed to the panorama, but rather hesitant about it.<ref name=jones/> In her essay, "Absorbing Hesitation: Wordsworth and the Theory of the Panorama", Jones argues that other episodes of ''The Prelude'' have just as much sensory depth as panoramas are supposed to have had.<ref name=jones/> Jones studied how Wordsworth imitated the senses in ''The Prelude,'' much in the same way panoramas did.<ref name=jones/> She concluded that panoramas were a balancing act between what the senses absorbed and what they came away with, something also present in Wordsworth's poetry.<ref name=jones/> By her results then, Wordsworth's similar imitation of the senses proves he was not entirely opposed to them.

The subjects of panoramas transformed as time passed, becoming less about the sublime and more about military battles and biblical scenes.<ref name=w/> This was especially true during the Napoleonic era when panoramas often displayed scenes from the emperor's latest battle whether a victory or a crushing defeat such as depicted in the ''Battle of Waterloo'' in 1816.<ref name=w/><ref name=mei>Meisel, Martin. ''Realizations''. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 1983.</ref>

A modern take on the panorama believes the enormous paintings filled a hole in the lives of those who lived during the nineteenth century.<ref name="comment">Comment 1999, p. 19</ref> Bernard Comment said in his book ''The Painted Panorama,'' that the masses needed "absolute dominance" and the illusion offered by the panorama gave them a sense of organization and control.<ref name="comment" /> Despite the power it wielded, the panorama detached audiences from the scene they viewed, replacing reality and encouraging them to watch the world rather than experience it.<ref name="comment" />