Panorama XXL – Rouen, Normandy

The Panorama XXL is Rouen’s spectacular new cultural venue. Opened on 20^th December 2014, it exhibits the world’s largest panoramic works (31 metres high – equivalent to a 12-storey building), created by German artist, Yadegar Asisi.

To house the Panorama XXL, a giant rotunda has been created and installed on the right bank of the Seine River. Just a 15-minute walk from the heart of the city centre, Rouen’s former dockyards are undergoing regeneration with restaurants and leisure facilities opening in former industrial spaces.

The first ever “Panorama” was created by Scottish artist, Robert Barker in 1785. At the time, Barker’s large circular painting was exhibited in Edinburgh in a rotunda, known as the Camera Obscura. Visitors viewed the painting from a central platform, allowing them to become immersed in the image all around them. The original Panorama showed the work Nature at a Glance – a 360° view of the Scottish capital. The new art form soon spread throughout Europe and by the turn of the 20^th century, the Panorama had achieved phenomenal popularity in Paris. Asisi is set on reviving the Panorama and three can already be found in Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig.

Asisi’s artwork blends painting, drawing and digital photography to give a “photorealistic” view. Before viewing the work, visitors will walk through darkened corridors and staircases that eliminate any connection with the outside world. Once in the rotunda, visitors are surrounded by the work and can admire it from a central tower that consists of three viewing platforms. The viewer will have the illusion that they are part of the works and directly at the heart of the action.

Rouen and the Seine Valley Tourist Board have commissioned an exclusive work entitled “Gothic Rouen,” a creation representing Rouen at the time of Joan of Arc which will be exhibited from spring 2016. Until then, visitors can take in two works from the German artist’s existing canon: “Rome 312” which opens on 20^th December 2014 and will present a key episode of ancient Rome: the victory of Emperor Constantine over Maxentius, followed by “Amazonia,” opening in autumn 2015 that promises to plunge the viewer into the heart of the Amazon jungle.