A peek behind the scenes: the medium panorama and the restoration of the Bourbaki Panorama
At the beginning of the 20th century, the panorama had to cede its status as a spectacular illusion machine to the new mass medium - the cinema. For its part, the Bourbaki Panorama actually fell into near oblivion thereafter. In 1926, the hexagonal building was turned into the first multi-storey car park in continental Europe and later into a car garage. A student rediscovered the cultural asset in 1979 as part of her Master’s thesis. She brings it back into the public consciousness. In 1996, the first conservation and preservation work began on the painting. Until 2003, further interventions were carried out in several phases. In order to stabilise the painting’s condition in the long term, an air-conditioning system is installed and the skylights are replaced.
Sophisticated constructionResponsible for the spatial illusion of the Bourbaki Panorama is an ingenious textile construction: in addition to the canopy, the expansive “fabric sky” visible from the platform, it consists of a fabric cylinder, the velum, attached under the skylights, and the “sun sails” (see diagram and picture). The velum and the sun sails serve to reflect the incident daylight and prevent it from shining directly onto the painting. The darker the shade of the baldachin, the more luminous the painting appears. The baldachin also covers the upper edge of the painting. Thus, the painting extends to the visible horizon – it is unlimited and appears to be infinitely wide. The painting is held in place by a technique developed specifically for the Bourbaki Panorama: magnets attached at regular intervals to a metal ring clamp the canvas at the upper edge and hold the painting in place. The canvas, which hangs down in the shape of a bell, is also weighted down at the bottom, which prevents it from wrinkling too much.
Unique restoration
The Bourbaki Panorama consists of 17 panels of fabric, each made of 50 per cent jute and linen. They carry about 1500 kilograms of oil paint. For economic reasons, the seams were kept tight at the time of creation and are now particularly prone to tearing. Thanks to an intensive restoration of the painting on the occasion of the museum’s reopening in 2000, it once again shines with its former brilliance. In the course of its history, the circular painting had to endure a number of hardships: Its age and decades of minimal care sometimes led to heavy soot deposits on the surface, more than a thousand cracks and holes as well as damage to the painting layer. Today, the cultural asset is subject to continuous solid maintenance by a highly qualified team. In addition to the repair of the painting layer and the canvas, the maintenance of the faux-terrain and other components of the historical medium are also part of its remit. A variety of sometimes very specific techniques, materials and measures are used. Materially, however, the cut-off “sky”cannot be replaced: the panorama was shortened by around 3 metres in the course of its history.
Financial support
The Bourbaki Panorama Luzern Association was founded in 1979 to save the unique circular painting from decay and to finance the restoration work. The preservation and regular professional care of the picture must also be ensured in the future. The Bourbaki Panorama Luzern Association supports the preservation of the Bourbaki Panorama through memberships and appeals for donations. The circular painting does not receive any state subsidi
