John Vanderlyn (1775-1852), Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles, 1818-1819. Oil on canvas. ©Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gift of the Senate House Association, Kingston, 1952.

The exhibition Versailles on Paper at Princeton University is in its final weeks, closing on Sunday, July 19, 2015. Until then, the gallery will be open free of charge, 8:30 to 4:30 Monday to Friday and noon to 5:00 on the weekends.

In addition, you may want to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art where John Vanderlyn’s painted panorama of the palace and gardens are on view in a specially designed room within the American wing.

Invented in Great Britain in the 1780s, panoramas were displayed within the darkened interior of a cylindrical building or room. According to the Met’s commentary, this 12 x 165 ft. (3.6 x 49.5 m) painting is a rare survivor of a form of public art and entertainment that flourished in the 19th century.

A native of Kingston, New York, Vanderlyn studied historical painting in Paris during the Napoleonic era and conceived his panorama project after seeing the American artist and inventor Robert Fulton establish a panorama theater on the Boulevard Montmartre.

Vanderlyn’s Versailles was drawn between 1814 and 1815, then mounted in 1818 in a building behind the City Hall in lower Manhattan. The scene depicts a sunny afternoon between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. in September 1814. King Louis XVIII can be seen on the center balcony of the palace.

 John Vanderlyn (1775-1852), Description of the panoramic view of the palace and gardens of Versailles, painted by Mr. Vanderlyn [electronic resource] (New-York: Printed by E. Conrad, 1819). Series:, Early American imprints. Second series ; no. 49975.

The Panoramic view of the palace and gardens of Versailles painted by John Vanderlyn: the original sketches of which were taken at the spot, by him, in the autumn of 1814 (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1956). Marquand Library (SA) ND237.V19 P36