VIEWS OF WATERLOO AND HINDMAN.
A panorama and a diorama reopened this week,-" The Battle of Waterloo," at Burford's Panorama Royal; and "Views in Hindostitn," at the Baker Street Bazaar.
Like its hero, the panorama has seen some service. Its first introduc- tion to the public dates as far back as 1816, the year after the event it commemorates ; its last about ten years ago. The circumstances under which it now reappears may be expected to confer on it a popularity which, if not able to compete with that of its birth amid the flush of victory and enthusiasm, will at least insure it an honourable death. Though somewhat the worse for damp and the dimmer for age, the im- mense picture still Shows well. There is plenty of action, plenty of the famous episodes of the day ; and the great space over which the smoke of the conflict -rolls enables one to realize to oneself the aspect of a battle- field with some approach to actuality. The moment on which the chief action centres is. that' of the Guards final charge ; but the artist's dis- cretion has been exercised, within due limits, n bringing together, in various parts of the field, incidents not perfectly simultaneous m point of historical fact.
The characteristic of the diorama is its plenteous display of national life and customs, and its general couleur locale. In most other similar exhi- bitions the figures and incidents are confined to the function of acces- sories: here they become, on the whole, as much the subject of the diorama as "the scenery of the Hoogly, the Bhagirathi, and the Ganges, from Fort William, Bengal, to Gangoutri, in the Himalaya," the tract of country comprehended in its moving pictures ; and the visitor's impres- sions are as much of the Indians as of India. The diorama is effectively painted, chiefly from sketches by Lieutenant Luard ; the scenes by Mr. Philip Phillips, the shipping by Mr. Knell, the figures and animals by no less eminent an artist than Mr. Louis Haghe. A museum of Indian zoology, fabrics, and curiosities, in the adjoining room, adds to its attrac- tions.
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