Izett Watson

Eureka Stockade by Beryl Ireland, c1995. State Library of Victoria (H141890)
This work is an over-painted photographic print, photographed by an unknown photographer from the painted canvas by Izett Watson and Thaddeus Welch, which was exhibited as a painted cyclorama in the 'Battle of Waterloo' Cyclorama building, Fitzroy, ca. 1891. This is based on the evidence that the pulleys and brick wall are discernible at the top edge of the image which B. Ireland has not over-painted.

In 1889, Melbourne businessmen employed renowned American cyclorama artist Thaddeus Welch, who teamed up with local artist Izett Watson to paint 1000 square feet (90 m²) of canvas of the Eureka Stockade, wrapped around a wooden structure. When it opened in Melbourne, the exhibition was an instant hit. The Age reported in 1891 that "it afforded a very good opportunity for people to see what it might have been like at Eureka". The Australasian claimed "that many persons familiar with the incidents depicted, were able to testify to the fidelity of the painted scene". The people of Melbourne flocked to the cyclorama, paid up and had their picture taken before it. It was eventually dismantled and disappeared from sight.^[1]