Polish artist Jan Styka painted this 195-foot-long, 45-foot-tall panorama between 1894 and 1896. It traveled around Europe until 1904 when the canvas was shipped to St. Louis, MO for the 1904 World’s Fair. Unfortunately, Styka didn't find out until he and the painting arrived in Missouri that there was no space to display such a large painting. It was briefly displayed in Chicago before being wrapped around a telephone pole and left in a warehouse. Styka could not afford to bring the painting home, so he was forced to leave the artwork in the United States when he returned to Poland. He passed away in Rome in 1925 without ever seeing his Crucifixion painting again. The massive artwork was presumed lost until 1944 when it was rediscovered in a storage space belonging to the Chicago Civic Opera Company.
The painting came to the attention of Dr. Hubert Eaton and Forest Lawn. They bought The Crucifixion and erected this building to house the painting. Eaton also had Jan Styka’s son and daughter-in-law, Adam and Wanda Styka, carry out conservation work on the painting before making it available for public viewing. Then known as the Hall of Crucifixion, the building opened on Good Friday in 1951.
