Panorama Art maybe a yesteryear spectacle but its existing models still enthrall the average viewer. In August 1881 when Vincent van Gogh attended the inauguration of the Mesdag Panorama at The Hague Museum he termed the experience as “the most beautiful sensation of my life.” He thought the near perfect painting had just one tiny flaw and that was its flawlessness. The serenity inherent in the simulated landscape that mesmerised Van Gogh is experienced by tourists visiting the museum even today.

Panorama Mesdag — the oldest 19th century panorama in the world still on its original site — is a 360 degree vista of the sea, the dunes and the fishing village of Scheveningen as it was in 1881. An important part of Dutch culture this cylindrical painting, more than 14 metres high and 120 metres in circumference, was painted by one of the most important painters of The Hague School, Hendrik Willem Mesdag and his team.

Unlike viewership of a two-dimensional wall painting, the 360-degree illusion of an unlimited view of Scheveningen makes the onlooker an active participant of the painted scene. From an observation gallery in the centre of the room, the cylindrical perspective creates the illusion that the viewer is on a high sand dune overlooking the sea, beaches and village of Scheveningen in the late 19th century. A foreground of fake terrain around the viewing gallery hides the base of the painting and makes the illusion more convincing. Depending on actual weather conditions outside, the tones of the painting appear to change too. This is because there is a lot of natural light coming in through the building. So on a very sunny day the painting appears to have undertones of orange and on duller days it appears greyer.

This masterpiece was painted when the popularity of Panorama Art was declining. In 1886 Mesdag purchased it himself, and it is due to his perseverance that we can still visit this Dutch national treasure today.

Panorama Art first evolved in 1787. Displayed in purpose-built pavilions it centred largely on scenic landscapes, historical battles and culture-specific domestic scenes of the times

Panorama Art first evolved in 1787 when Robert Barker patented his plans for a cylindrical building that was to be erected around a large, panoramic painting. The cylindrical painting was offset in the purpose-built interior with clever lighting effects to produce a new experience for the viewer, who stood on a special platform in the centre of the circular room. The goal was to produce the perfect illusion of a real scene. Barker’s success spawned a series of “immersive” panoramas across Europe and America. Displayed in purpose-built pavilions they centred largely on scenic landscapes, historical battles and culture-specific domestic scenes of the times.

As a mass-media phenomenon Panoramas had their heyday in the mid-19th century — no other art form or medium was as popular and had such a radical effect on the way the public viewed the world. Film and television did not yet exist; photography was in its infancy and globe-trotting tourism, as we know it today was unheard of. Public impressions of foreign countries, people, cities, landscapes, events, or exotic animals were minimal and Panoramas’ theatrical narratives were exciting reincarnations of such new occurrences and advances.

The most important characteristic of a panorama is the large field of view. Since the medium’s inception, inventive photo­graphers have sear­ched for ways to capture ever wider angles of view. Today the advent of digital photography has enabled us to return to the historical definition of panoramas as all-around images.

The success of Yadegar Assisi’s 2003 ‘Everest’ panorama in Leipzig recaptures some of the excitement of those first 18th and 19th century panorama exhibitions. Assisi exhibited a huge collage consisting of 3D models, detail photos, and panorama photos of the Himalayas in honour of the 50th anniversary of the first scaling of Mount Everest. The 36-metre-high exhibit — along with atmospheric background music — produced the illusion that the viewer was standing at the foot of the tallest mountain in the world. The largest panorama in the world remained on display inside an unused gas storage tank for two years.

Published in Dawn, EOS, August 20th, 2017