Theatre Design & Technology - Dec 1966 - 14

manage his keeping, light and shade, etc. with the most
critical exactness." The scenes of Greenwich Park at
dawn and Naples at sunset are, the critic tells us, both
remarkably accurate. Of the former, he writes, "(N)othing
can exceed the amazing transition which the artist has
contrived, in changing the cool hue of verdure which appears at dawn to the refulgent warmth of the blushing
morn." Concerning the view of Naples, the critic is even
more enthusiastic: "(T)he moonlight is really beyond any
idea that can be formed from description .... In the foreground. . a group of peasants appears sitting around a
fire, the reflection of which produces the most beautiful
contrast to the reflection of the moon."
Although admitting that the scene of Tangiers at noon is
as "natural" as the other scenes, the critic finds it less
pleasing, "not having the same variety of lights." The
sunset scene, however, is "astounding" and the finale,
the scene of tempest, while not yet technically perfect,
is introduced "by a variation in sky that does infinite
credit to the ingenuity of the artist." Admittedly, the
waves are perhaps too" abruptly angular" and their transverse motion "too apparent," but nevertheless the "wrathful sky.. .the forked lightening (sic) pervading every part
of it, together with the imitative peals of thunder, ....
(produces) an effect that astonishes the imagination in a
manner hardly to be conceived." The London Chronicle
concludes its review by calling De Loutherbourg's attention to two slight errors. The reflection of the sun is suffered to remain on the buildings long after the sun has
sunk beneath the horizon; and the miniature ships in the
scene are occasionally shown sail ing into the wind with
their sails "filled aback." Charitably the critic attributes
these errors to the difficulties attendant on any opening
night and feels confident that De Loutherbourg will rectify
them in the next representation. 1 a
Apparently, De Loutherbourg made the necessary adjustments, for the tempest subsequently never failed to
please. The second scene, however, the "scene of noon"
was shortly withdrawn from the production and replaced
by a new perspective, "The Bringing of French and Dutch
Prizes into the Port of Plymouth with a View of Mount
Edgecumbe."ll This last was extremely popular, and indeed, four years later, the artist borrowed certain elements from it when he designed another Plymouth harbor
scene, this time for a spectacular Covent Garden harlequinade (Omail, based on the adventures of Captain
Cook.
William Pyne, himself a painter and a great admirer of
De Loutherbourg, was a frequent visitor to the Eidophusikon when it was presented for the third time in 1786.
For that third version, some of the most popular scenes
from the two earlier exhibitions were revived. Included
from the 1781 version was the opening view of Greenwich Park. Pyne's impression of it gives us an excellent
idea of the pains taken by De Loutherbourg to make his
spectacle true to nature:
The opening subject of the Eidophusikon represented the view
from the summit of One·tree Hill, in Greenwich Park, looking
up the Thames to the Metropolis; on one side, conspicuous
upon Its picturesque eminence, stood Flamstead House; and
below, on the right, the grand mass of building, Greenwich
Hospital, with its imposing cupolas, cut out of pasteboard, and
painted with architectural correctness. The large groups of
trees formed another division, behind which were the towns of
Greenwich and Deptford, with the shore on each side stretching to the metropolis, which was seen In its vast extent. from
Chelsea to Poplar. Behind were the Hills of Hampstead, Highgate, and Harrow; and the intermediate space was occupied by
the flat stage, as the pool or port of London, crowded with
shipping, each mass of which being Cut out in pasteboard,
and receding in size by the perspective of their distance. The
heathy appearance of the foreground was constructed of cork,

broken into the rugged and picturesque forms of a sandpit,
covered with minute mosses and lichens, producing a capti·
vating effect, amounting indeed to reality.
This scene, on the rising of the curtain, was envoloped in
that mysterious light which is the precursor of daybreak, so
true to nature, that the imagination of the spectator sniffed
the sweet breath of morn. A faint light appeared along the hori·
zan; the scene assumed a vapourish tint of grey; presently
a gleam of saffron, changing to the pure varieties that tinge
the fleecy clouds that pass away in morning mist; the picture
brightened by trees and the projections of the lofty buildings,
and burnishing the vanes on the cupolas; when the whole
scene burst upon the eye in the gorgeous splendour of a
beauteous day. I 2

The most unusual feature of this scene of Greenwich
Park was, of course, De Loutherbourg's use of the actual
materials of nature, the lichens, the moss, the cork.
Without question, the artist was anticipating by more than
a hundred years the innovations of such naturalists as
David Belasco.
Equally "naturalistic" were the cloud effects which the
artist prepared for his moonlight scene: "A View in the
Mediterranean." Pyne again serves as our expert witness:
The clouds for this scene were admirably painted and as they
rolled on, the moon tinged their edges, or was obscured, at
the will of the painter; for where he had loaded the color to
opaqueness, the transparent light of the orb could not pene·
trate. The clouds in front received sufficient illumination from
the lamps, which were subdued by a bluish grey glass. . ,The
moon was formed by a circular aperture of an inch in diameter,
cut in a tin box, that contained a powerful argand lamp, which
being placed at various distances from the back of the scene,
gave a brilliant or a subdued splendour to the passing cloud,
producing without any other aid the prismatic circle with that
enchanting purity which is peculiar 10 an Italian sky.1 3

The ingenious techniques described above are employed
with surprisingly little variation by modern scene designers,
whose only real improvement on De Loutherbourg's system
is the greater control made possible by electric light.

In the fall of 1781, De Loutherbourg revived his first
version of the Eidophusjkon, which played until December 21. On January 31, 1 782, he opened a second version consisting of five new scenes, To these he added
on March 7 the storm and shipwreck scene from the previous season, The program, now in six parts, was advertised as follows in the Morning Herald;
The Performance divided into Two Acts.
Scene 1 _ The SU
RISING in the FOG, Italian Sea PorI.
Scene 2. The CATARACT of NIAGARA, in North America.
Scene 3. (by particular desire) the Favorite Scene (exhibited
60 Nights last Season) of the STORM AND SHIPWRECK
ACT THE SECO D.
1Sl. The SETTI G of the SUN after a RAI Y DAY, with a
View of the Castle, Town, and Cliffs of Dover.
2nd. The RISING of (he MOO " With a WATER·SPOUT, ex·
hibiting the effects of Three different Lights, with a View
of a Rock Shore on the Coast of Japan.
THE CONCLUSIVE SCENE,
3d. SA TAN arraying his TROOPS on the BANKS of the
FIERY LAKE, with the Raising of the PALACE of PANDE·
MONIUM, from MillOn. 14

An enthusiastic account of the new scenes appears in the
European Magazine for March 1782.
The first scene represents a sea port In Ita Iv; from (he sky,
we find It IS a night scene; but in a few minutes, the dawn
appears, and (he sun beams slope upwards from that point of
the horizon, where the sky and sea seem blended. The increasing light shows the port and shipping more plain; but at the

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