Tiny Worlds: Dioramas at the Boston Public Library

On the third floor of the McKim building at the Central Library in Copley Square, there’s a small, dark room where tiny scenes come to life in the shadows. You’ll see fighters in a boxing ring, a cozy kitchen where two friends chat over a meal, a group of dimly lit circus performers, an artist’s printmaking studio complete with miniature printing press. Little figures travel through deserts and shipyards, run to seek shelter from the rain, and float down rivers in small boats.

These are miniature works of art called dioramas. There are eleven of them, created in 1960 especially for the Boston Public Library by local artist Louise Stimson.

Stimson began creating dioramas in the 1920s, using everyday materials like sponges, cardboard, dust cloths, and buttons to build her scenes and characters.

In 1960, the Library asked her to create a special set of dioramas, collectively called Printmakers at Work, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Prints and Drawings Department. The diorama set was given to the Library by Marjorie Wiggin Prescott. Her father, New York banker Albert H. Wiggin, donated the group of prints that the dioramas were based on in 1941.

These small scenes were installed into the walls of what used to be the Little Gallery, located on the third floor of the McKim building.

Printmakers at Work includes 11 dioramas, and each one showcases an artist whose work was part of the original gift to the Library’s Print Department. These artists are:

Each diorama scene shows either a moment from an artist's life or is inspired by a print they produced.

For example, the first print Wiggin ever collected was "Country Neighbors" by Félix Buhot. This print sparked Wiggin's interest in collecting art, and it eventually led to the formation of the Print Department at the Library.

Here, Stimson depicts Buhot leaning against a doorway sketching a couple running toward a house to avoid the rain:

And here is the print by Buhot showing the same couple:

Stimson imagined another scene wherein artist James McNeil Whistler is shown speaking with a woman outside the Bal Bullier in Paris, where she sold flowers:

"La mère Gérard," the woman in the diorama, is shown here in Whistler's print, also held at the Library:

Dioramas are three-dimensional models that illustrate scenes from history, nature, cities, or literature. They are made to teach or to entertain. A diorama usually has a painted background, a detailed foreground, and small models of people, animals, and landscape elements such as hills, rocks, and trees.

The diorama was originally conceived by Louis Daguerre, who later invented the daguerreotype, the first widely used method of photography. In 1820s Paris, dioramas were a sensation. People would flock to specially designed theaters to see them, and were amazed by lifelike scenes. Some dioramas even had lights, sounds, or actors. These were early steps toward film technology and even virtual reality.

The word diorama means “to see through.”

By the late 1800s and early 1900s, dioramas became common in museums, especially natural history museums. They often used real animal specimens (taxidermy) to show wildlife and human habitats. These displays combined art and science to educate viewers on the need for environmental conservation, but even these are disappearing.

While falling out of style as a cutting-edge cultural experience, dioramas nevertheless continue to be produced by hobbyists. One library recently called for patrons to submit dioramas of their own making based on interesting or bizarre news stories. They have also been a fruitful concept for contemporary artists, such as Mark Dion.

Though the gallery is closed to the public for now, the tiny worlds Louise Stimson created continue to wait patiently in the shadows, ready to come back to life for future visitors.

If you're interested in viewing similar dioramas, you can walk through Back Bay to find the old New England Life Insurance building at 501 Boylston St. that houses four dioramas illustrating the history of the construction of the Back Bay.