Greetings All,
        The term diorama means different things to different people. For
most people it is an umbrella term for a form of museum display that is
essentially three dimensional, incorporating a painted backdrop, designed
to recreate a context of some sort. Karen Wonders has made clear
the distinction between dioramas that recreate the habitats of mounted
zoological specimens (habitat dioramas), but there seems to be more than one
term for those that incorporate human beings.
        My questions are:What do YOU call dioramas that incorporate
human beings? Also, is there more than one type of diorama that
incorporates humans? If you want to factor in scale, that is okay by me.
How important is a painted backdrop to your definition?
        I appreciate your input, this will help me in refining my study
of dioramas for my thesis.

                                 Fielding Freed