London Colosseum facts for kids
The London Colosseum was a special building located near Regent's Park in London. It was built in 1827. The main reason for its creation was to show off a massive painting called the "Panoramic View of London." This painting, made by Thomas Hornor, was the largest ever created at the time!
The design of the Colosseum was inspired by the ancient Pantheon in Rome. It was a very grand and impressive structure. Sadly, the building was taken down in 1875.
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History of the Colosseum
The idea for the Colosseum came from an English artist named Thomas Hornor. He wanted to display a huge, wrap-around painting of London. Hornor had made drawings for this painting from a temporary hut placed right on top of the dome of St Paul's Cathedral! This was in 1821-22, when the cathedral's cross and ball were being replaced.
Hornor's plan was to create a 360-degree panorama inside a specially built dome. This dome was part of the Colosseum, which looked a lot like the Roman Pantheon. Building such a huge and detailed place was very expensive. It cost so much money that one of its main supporters had to leave the country. Hornor also faced financial difficulties because of the high costs.
The Colosseum was built on the east side of Regent's Park. It was designed by Decimus Burton, with help from John Young. The building was shaped like a sixteen-sided polygon with a large dome. It was made of brick, but it was covered with cement to look like stone.
Creating the Giant Panorama
On December 12, 1825, an artist named E. T. Parris began working on the panorama. He used Hornor's original drawings from St Paul's Cathedral. This project was a huge challenge for Parris, both artistically and technically.
Parris started by drawing the outlines in chalk. He made them 16 times larger than the original drawings! This meant the final painting would be 256 times bigger in total area. It was a lot of hard work and needed careful attention. He finished the chalk outlines by the next April.
Then, the painting began using oil paints. Hornor hired several artists to help Parris. However, progress was slow because they weren't used to this kind of massive work. There were also problems with keeping the colors and overall look consistent. Sometimes, sections had to be repainted. Eventually, Parris decided to take charge and do most of the painting himself, with help from some house-painters. This turned out to be the right decision.
Besides the huge size of the canvas, reaching all parts of it was difficult. Parris showed his cleverness by inventing special light scaffolds, bridges, and platforms. Sometimes he was held up by long poles from the floor. Other times, he hung from ropes attached to the roof! Parris even fell twice from a high distance, but luckily, he wasn't seriously hurt.
The panorama was finally finished in November 1829, after four years of hard work. The painting was truly enormous, covering over 40,000 square feet! It was a testament to Parris's amazing artistic skill and determination.
New Owners and Exciting Attractions
After a while, Hornor had money problems, and the Colosseum was taken over by trustees. It became less popular as a fun place to visit. In May 1843, it was sold for 23,000 guineas (an old form of money).
The new owner was William Bradwell, who used to be a chief machinist at the Covent Garden Theatre. He made many changes to the building. He added a new entrance and a long, arched hallway inspired by one at the Vatican.
The new owners announced a "Glypoteca," which was a Museum of Sculpture. It displayed more than 180 artworks by famous sculptors. The old fabric decorations were replaced with a grand dome made of thousands of feet of beautiful glass. The museum's walls were decorated with a copy of a famous Greek procession from the Parthenon. Above that were twenty colorful paintings by Mr. Absalom.
The lift, which was called "the Ascending Room," could carry ten or twelve people. It was now decorated in an old English style and lit by colorful stained glass windows.
E.T. Parris even repainted "The Grand Panorama of London" for the reopening in 1845. He added even more details that he couldn't include the first time.
The conservatories (glass rooms for plants) were decorated in a fancy "arabesque" style. In the middle of them was a "Gothic Aviary" for birds. Outside, an "Exterior Promenade" featured fake classical ruins, showing how much effect could be created in a small space.
Another cool attraction was the "Chalet or Swiss Cottage." From its window, visitors could see real waterfalls! Behind the waterfalls were painted backgrounds of famous mountains like the Mer de Glace and Mont Blanc. There was also a "Stalactite Cavern," which was a cave built to look like a real one in Germany.
In the evenings, a different panorama of London was shown. This one, painted by Danson and Telbin, used special light effects to make the city look realistic at night. Later, a night view of Paris was shown in 1848. A panorama of the Lake of Thun in Switzerland was displayed in 1850. In 1848, a fancy theatre was added, which showed a ten-scene moving painting (called a cyclorama) of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
Closing Down
In 1855, the Colosseum and its cyclorama were put up for auction. Even though about £200,000 had been spent on the building over the years, the highest offer was only £20,000.
The building changed hands several times. Eventually, a group of gentlemen bought it, hoping to build a grand hotel there. But this idea was dropped. Later, a Mr. Bird bought the lease, and the Colosseum was completely torn down in 1875. The area remained empty until new private homes were built there between 1876 and 1880.
Images for kids
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The Colosseum, Regent's Park, London (1827-74)
