(Montreal) A small group hopes to reopen the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré cyclorama which closed its doors in 2018.
The Jerusalem Cyclorama is a panoramic work by American painters Oliver Dennett Grover and Charles Abel Corwin. It measures 14 meters in height by 110 meters in circumference. It is located in a rotunda built near the basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. It was installed there in 1895.
The work describes what the city of Jerusalem may have looked like at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.
But disinterest in the site followed the declericalization movement in Quebec. In 2018, the Blouin family, owners of the place, closed it because it was no longer profitable and needed renovation. Attempts to sell it were unsuccessful. The following year, the canvas and the rotunda were classified as heritage sites by the Quebec government.
Annie Lévesque is a resident of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. She is part of the team of volunteers who are looking for a way to reopen the place to the public.
“It’s the only cyclorama that exists in Canada, so I really hope that government authorities realize the importance of safeguarding and continuing a site like this,” she emphasizes.
Pierre Blouin, whose family bought the place in 1949, hopes to be able to sell it. He wrote a lengthy article for Reader’s Digest last summer in hopes of attracting a potential buyer.
Ms. Lévesque, who owns an art gallery, was recruited by the Blouin family because she specializes in cultural development. Reopening the rotunda could attract potential buyers, she said. This could also help the family find a real estate broker.
“It’s difficult to sell a business when it’s closed,” she recalls.
Jérémie Germain got involved in the group by chance. While visiting Ms. Lévesque’s art gallery in 2021, he noticed the rotunda through a window, but he had no idea what it was.
“It’s a magnificent work of art,” he says of the cyclorama. I’m surprised she’s here, in the dark, so to speak. »
The group has a few dozen members from all walks of life: professionals, lawyers, historians, etc. All enthusiasts who want the public to have access to the cyclorama again.
The work is still in good condition. In recent years, historians and experts. The gift shop was reopened at Easter in 2022 to raise funds for necessary repairs. No timetable has been set for a possible reopening, recognizes Ms. Lévesque.
According to the Quebec Cultural Heritage Directory, the cyclorama was painted in 1887 or 1888 somewhere in the United States. It was exhibited in Montreal until 1895 before being sold to lawyer Ubald Plourde who had it transported near the basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. The work is inspired by a canvas painted in Munich in 1886 by Bruno Piglhein which served as a model for more than a dozen other panoramic paintings.
In March 2022, the Ministry of Culture obtained a court judgment to carry out emergency work on the roof. These were completed in February.
“The ministry intervened in an exceptional manner to allow urgent consolidation work to be carried out on the roof which had to be carried out to ensure the integrity of the classified property,” wrote the ministry in an email to The Canadian Press. A mortgage has been registered by the government, but the owner will have to repay it.
Mr. Germain emphasizes that the Blouin family believes that the place must be adapted to the 21st century. 3D technology and virtual reality could be added to make the work more interactive.
“The painting will always be the main attraction, but we want to enrich the experience in ways that creators couldn’t imagine decades ago,” he adds. Everything we do today and everything we will do in the future is about reopening the place and sharing it with the world. »