(1) (2) (3) (4)		The original - The first Diorama was an opera- or theatre like building (1) situated in rue Sanson in Paris, near today's Place de la République (2). It opened July 1822 and was in use till March 1839 when a fire destroyed it. The public was sat in a rotunda on a circular moving platform which switched between two different viewing channels (3/4). Each of the two channels displayed a 22 x 14 metres transparent painting. A sophisticated monitoring system  behind, over and under the painting made it possible to regulate and influence the incoming daylight by screens, shutters and colour filters. One of the two channels also served as a workshop for painting new dioramic pictures. The transparent fabric was painted on from both sides. The large size of the fabric made painting complicated and time consuming, as the effects of transparency had to be checked after each step: paint on one side, climb down from the scaffolding or ladder, walk around the whole thing and check it from the other side against light. Copies of the Paris Diorama opened later in London, Edinburgh, Berlin and other European cities.