TWO UNIQUE PANORAMAS ENDANGERED
Two of the world’s rarest classical panoramas are currently endangered. The 1881 'Panorama Mesdag' in The Hague, Holland and the 1895 panorama ‘Battle of Mount Isel’ in Innsbruck, Austria are two of a unique category to which only very few other panoramas in the world belong, in which the combination of original painting, foreground, daylight-illumination. and the building itself are still preserved at the original location.
Detail of Panorama Mesdag, The Hague
'Panorama Mesdag' and ‘The battle of Mount Isel’ are two of the best preserved specimens of the panorama era between 1870 and World War I, a period in which the popularity of the panorama phenomenon thrived worldwide. It also serves as the art form for the general public to keep alive the memory of a violent period of war and mass destruction in Europe and the world. In more recent years classical panoramas are being erected in Asia. More than a century ago panoramas used to be moved from town to town, which is one of the reasons that only very few examples have survived.
The survival of these two top ranking artifacts of our world cultural heritage is being endangered by similar developments, although there also are differences. In Holland the danger is from a building permit for an underground parking garage in the unpredictable sub-soil of the coastal city of The Hague, that causes the panorama rotunda to shift unexpectedly.
Viewing Platform of Panorama Mesdag, The Hague
In Austria, the original panorama rotunda is to be demolished to make way for a development planned by the city of Innsbruck,which would include moving the painting to a modern museum building, thereby saving the painting but destroying the original illusion technique of the classical panorama phenomenon experience. It is not clear whether the painting is in a condition that allows the transfer. International renowned conservator Christian Marty (chief conservator of Bourbaki Panorama’s restoration campaign 1996-2004) has been mandated by the Land Tyrol to examine the painting and to deliver a recommendation.
Detail of "The Battle of Mount Isel" at Innsbruck
Original Rotunda at Innsbruck
Hundreds of millions visited panoramas in their reign supreme, before the movie theatre replaced their function, at first with silent film. Those panoramas that have survived still attract millions of visitors each year. Visitors are attracted by their virtual reality effect, which also is highly relevant today. Many Schools of Art, for instance, simulate and facilitate new 3D or virtual panoramas, finding a way back to the historic panorama phenomenon that was originally an invention of the Irish painter Robert Barker in 1787, at that time living in Scotland.
