Paul Philippoteaux (27/28 January 1846, Paris — 28 June 1923, Paris) was a French painter, dioramist, and illustrator, recognized for his impactful contributions to the art of large-scale cycloramas. The son and pupil of Henri Félix E. Philippoteaux (1815—1884), Paul also trained under notable artists Léon Cogniet and Alexandre Cabanel. His work in dioramic painting garnered critical acclaim across Europe, Great Britain, and particularly in the United States, with one of his most famous pieces being the Battle of Gettysburg. This painting was exhibited in four versions between 1883 and 1890 in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York.

Philippoteaux made his debut in 1871 with the cyclorama Defence of the Fort d'Issy at Champs-Élysées in Paris, initially assisting his father. At this time, cycloramas were becoming a popular sensation, reviving a concept that dated back over a century. The term "panoramas" was originally invented and patented by Irish painter Robert Barker in 1787, with the form reaching its first peak in 1793. The Philippoteaux family soon became well-known in this lucrative niche, with Paul eventually taking the lead role while Henri provided assistance and consultation.

In 1879, Paul Philippoteaux was invited to the United States by prominent Chicago real estate tycoon Charles Louis Willoughby (1838—1919), one of the first American entrepreneurs to recognize the potential for cycloramas in North America. At that time, very few large-scale immersive panoramas existed in the U.S., aside from a few traveling exhibitions and the notable exception of The Rotunda in City Hall Park, NYC, opened by American painter John Vanderlyn (1775—1852) in 1818. Philippoteaux became a partner in the National Panorama Company, where he collaborated on a major project depicting the Gettysburg Battle of July 1863, a pivotal conflict of the American Civil War. Willoughby allocated an impressive budget of $200,000 (equivalent to over $6 million in 2025 currency) for this endeavor.

Philippoteaux conducted extensive research for the cyclorama, working alongside Barnet Philipps (1828—1905), an art critic for The New York Times. He interviewed numerous veterans, studied historical maps at the War Department in Washington, D.C., and spent months sketching at the Gettysburg Battlefield from a makeshift observation tower. He also collaborated with local photographer William H. Tipton (1850—1929), who provided a series of panoramic photographs.

Upon returning to Paris, Philippoteaux dedicated nearly 1.5 years to creating a monumental painting, supported by his father and a team of five painters and craftsmen. The final piece was a colossal, 360° oil canvas weighing over six tons and measuring approximately 13-15 by 110-125 meters (42-50 by 360-410 feet). The installation included numerous three-dimensional elements such as mannequins, replicas of artillery, trees, and debris to enhance the dioramic effect. Notably, Philippoteaux included a self-portrait in the painting, marking one of the largest self-portrait "cameos" in art history.

The Battle of Gettysburg cyclorama opened in Chicago in October 1883, housed in a newly built rotunda at the corner of Wabash Avenue and Hubbard Court. The exhibition was a resounding success, attracting nearly 500,000 visitors in its first year and generating profits of $241,300. Positive reviews from newspapers and decorated veterans, including John Gibbon (1827—1896), highlighted the painting's realism, often moving battle survivors to tears. The exhibition ran until 1890 and was later refurbished for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, but tragically, the canvas was lost in a fire two years later.

Philippoteaux's success in Chicago inspired several other Midwestern entrepreneurs, leading to the establishment of six independent panorama companies in Chicago alone within a decade. One notable enterprise, Reed & Gross Panorama Co., founded around 1885 by Isaac Newton Reed (1848—1940) and Howard H. Gross (1853—1920), opened their own cyclorama, Jerusalem on the Day of the Crucifixion, across the street from the Gettysburg exhibition. Philippoteaux later collaborated with Pierpoint & Gross, the successor to Reed & Gross, serving as the lead artist for another Jerusalem cyclorama, which first premiered in Europe and was later permanently set up in Canada in 1895 at a shrine near the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Quebec.

Over the next decade, Philippoteaux and Willoughby launched three additional Gettysburg cycloramas. Their partnership led to a presentation to the newly-formed Boston Cyclorama Co. for $300,000, and in December 1884, a version of the exhibition opened on Tremont Street. This cyclorama lasted eight years, welcoming 200,000 visitors annually before closing in 1892. The National Park Service later acquired the diorama in 1942, and it was displayed in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for over 40 years, from 1957 to 1999, in a center designed by renowned Modernist architect Richard Neutra (1892—1970). After extensive restorations, the cyclorama reopened at the Gettysburg National Military Park in 2008.

In March 1886, Willoughby purchased the abandoned "Old Dutch" church in Brooklyn for $250,000 (over $8.2 million in 2025 currency) and constructed a large fireproof rotunda for the fourth and final Gettysburg cyclorama, which was the largest yet. Philippoteaux worked on this "magnum opus" in the U.S., benefiting from easier access to portraits of U.S. Army heroes and authentic uniforms. The Battle of Gettysburg premiered in October 1886 at 4th Avenue and 18th–19th Street, operated by the Union Square Panorama Co., featuring a canvas measuring approximately 13-15 by 92-121 meters (42-50 by 300-400 feet). This exhibition closed in August 1887, after which the canvas was dismantled and distributed among commemorative posts of the Grand Army of the Republic nationwide. While some fragments of the canvas were recovered and preserved by the National Park Service, the complete cyclorama did not survive.