If you’ve been to Gettysburg, you may have seen the Cyclorama – a massive painting that colorfully and dramatically depicts battlefield scenes including the decisive event known as Pickett’s Charge. The work on display at Gettysburg is one of four similar pieces produced in the late 1800s under the direction of French painter Paul Philippoteaux. Two of those versions have been lost – but a surviving cyclorama is in North Carolina. And, it’s for sale – all 6 tons of it.
The sprawling painting, when assembled, is 386 feet long by 22 feet high. The cyclorama’s three current owners showed the piece to potential buyers this week. The painting was rolled out on a floor at a warehouse in Wake County. One of the owners, Billy Ray Powell, spoke this week with WFAE's Mark Rumsey.