Panoramic paintings are massive artworks that reveal a wide, all-encompassing view of a particular subject, often a landscape, military battle, or historical event. They became especially popular in the 19th century in Europe and the United States, inciting opposition from some writers of Romantic poetry. A few have survived into the 21st century and are on public display. Typically shown in rotundas for viewing, panoramas were meant to be so lifelike they confused the spectator between what was real and what was image. In China, panoramic paintings are an important subset of handscroll paintings, with some famous examples being Along the River During the Qingming Festival and Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River. History The word "panorama", a portmanteau of the Greek words ‘pano’ (all) and ‘horama’ (view), was coined by the Irish painter Robert Barker in 1787. While walking on Calton Hill overlooking Edinburgh, the idea struck him and he obtained a patent for it the same year. Barker's patent included the first coining of the word panorama. Barker's vision was to capture the magnificence of a scene from every angle so as to immerse the spectator completely, and in so doing, blur the line where art stopped and reality began. Barker's first panorama was of Edinburgh. He exhibited the Panorama of Edinburgh From Calton Hill in his house in 1788, and later in Archers' Hall near the Meadows to public acclaim. The first panorama disappointed Barker, not because of its lack of success, but because it fell short of his vision. The Edinburgh scene was not a full 360 degrees; it was semi-circular. In 1792 he used the term to describe his paintings of Edinburgh, Scotland shown on a cylindrical surface, which he soon was exhibiting in London, as "The Panorama". After the commercial but limited technical success of his first panorama, Barker and his son Henry Aston Barker completed a panorama of London from the Albion Mills. A reduced version was originally shown in their house with a larger one on display later. To fulfill his dream of a 360 panorama, Barker and his son purchased a rotunda at Leicester Square. London from the Roof of the Albion Mills christened the new rotunda, all 250 square meters of it. The previously reduced version, in contrast, measured only 137 square meters. The rotunda at Leicester Square was composed of two levels, although they varied in size. Spectators