DIORAMAS115cally posed actors, brought the three-dimensional illusionism of the pre-
sepe to life scale, reaching unprecedented popularity during the Victorian
era.^17 This interest in artifice and modeling was further supported by new
technologies of visual production and consumption, including magic lan-
tern shows, optical toys, and the emergence of kinetic images.
In 1822, outside the context of natural history, Louis Daguerre intro-
duced the diorama as a form of entertainment to the Parisian public.^18
Daguerre was a painter and physicist whose flair for innovation eventu-
ally led him to invent the daguerreotype, the astonishingly detailed pho-
tographic process that captivated audiences between 1839 and 1855. And
it is precisely in this desire to capture reality without an artist’s media-
tion that the previous histories of three-dimensional mimesis converged
in Daguerre’s Diorama, which in a theater setting exposed viewers to a
stage displaying large translucent canvases measuring twenty-two by
fourteen meters (fig. 3.4). Colored lights visually alluded to atmospheric
effects, suggesting movement and the passing of time.^19 Yet one of the
most important innovations in Daguerre’s dioramas was the inclusion of
occasional trees, stones, and in one instance a live goat.^20 This tension
FIGURE 3.4 Illustration of Louis Daguerre’s and Charles Marie Bouton’s Diorama,
- Image in public domain.