Bourbaki Panorama in Lucerne

5 August 2023

Towards the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, new media tried to represent the world as realistically as possible. With all possible optical and modern technical tricks, the audience got the illusion of being there themselves.

The Irish painter Robert Barker had an invention patented in London in 1787. It was known as “Panorama”. His invention was a naturalistic, painted round image that surrounded the spectators and included them in the scene.

 

The Bourbaki Panorama in Lucerne is an impressive heritage of the era of the panoramas. The Panorama, created by the painter Edouard Castres (1838-1902), was completed in 1881. The picture measures 112 by 10 metres,

It depicts the defeated French Army of General Bourbaki during the memorable border crossing near Les Verrières (canton of Neuchâtel) on 1 February 1871.

(Source and further information: Bourbaki Panorama Lucerne)