The digitization of the Panorama of the Battle of Murten has been launched
An EPFL team is in charge of the operation. The gigantic work of the German painter Louis Braun, dating from 1893, has rarely been shown to the public.
The “Panorama of the Battle of Morat” had been exhibited on the arteplage of Morat as part of Expo.02 (archives).
KEYSTONE/EDDY RISCH
A team from EPFL has started digitizing the Panorama of the Battle of Murten, a 100 by 10 meter work created in 1893 by the German painter Louis Braun. This endeavor will give birth to one of the greatest digital images ever produced.
The painting, which depicts the moment when the Confederates took over the Duchy of Burgundy during its invasion in 1476, has never been permanently shown to the public, the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne said on Thursday. (EPFL) in a statement.
Twenty years in a warehouse
After its brief exhibition in Zurich and Geneva at the end of the 19th century, as well as at the Swiss National Exhibition in 2002 (Expo.02), this epic work has spent the last twenty years in military storage.
Thanks to a collaboration between EPFL and the Foundation for the Panorama of the Battle of Morat, the painting will be digitized by the team of Sarah Kenderdine, head of the Experimental Museology Laboratory.
Researchers are currently analyzing the panorama with the aim of preserving it before beginning the digital imaging process. Both of these activities require a large mechanical platform to work above the paint. The camera pod will be able to take around 400,000 images of the canvas surface.
A digital twin
Imaging will benefit from a camera specifically manufactured for high resolution scanning projects. The process is expected to take four months and capture images in the RGB color spectrum (red, green and blue) and even beyond using multispectral imaging.
“According to scientific publications on the subject, this should be the largest single and uninterrupted image ever created, with a size of 1600 gigapixels”, explains Sarah Kenderdine, quoted in the press release. The process presents a number of challenges, including capturing a flawless 2D image despite irregularities in the surface of the canvas.
The goal is to create the digital twin of the painting in time for the 550th anniversary of the battle, which will take place in 2026, and to make Braun’s work accessible to everyone.
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