gandalf1202: Albert Heise – Im Panopticum [1892] on Flickr.The…
Albert Heise – Im Panopticum [1892] on Flickr.
The panopticon was among the most visited attractions in late nineteenth century Europe. The word itself derives from Greek mythology, the giant Panoptes with a hundred eyes was an all-seeing watchman, and likewise a ticket-buyer to the panopticon could spy everything and anything from lurid waxworks, collections of human oddities (both live performers and embalmed figures), rare specimens of medical and natural science, and historical curiosities, among a number of other categories of trivia. As bizarrely wonderful as panopticons were, they are largely forgotten today, leaving Heise’s depiction a rare and delightful record of this early mass-entertainment (the painting’s engraving further publicising both the Panopticum and the artist).
[Sotheby’s, New York – Oil on canvas, 106 x 80 cm]
My Tumblr dash is a modern panopticon.
Reposted from http://ift.tt/1hRzYEn.
