Panorama of the Battle of Waterloo

The Panorama of the Battle of Waterloo (French: Panorama de la Bataille de Waterloo) is a rotunda in Belgium that houses a monumental panoramic painting of the Battle of Waterloo. The neoclassical building is located immediately to the north of the Lion Mound, on the battlefield of the Battle of Waterloo, in the Belgian municipality of Braine-l'Alleud, in the province of Walloon Brabant.

Design
The rotunda was designed by the architect fr in 1911. It has an external diameter of 35 m and stands 15 m high, with a conical roof. The white painted brick walls of the rotunda are decorated with recessed blind arches separated by Ionic pilasters, and crowned with parapet with a frieze of palmettes. The entrance porch has two pairs of Tuscan columns supporting a triangular pediment.

The rotunda houses an oil-on-canvas painting completed by French artist Louis Dumoulin in 1912, with 14 canvas panels sewn together to create a cylinder approximately 110 m in circumference and 12 m high. It is lit from above by a ring of glazing around the edge of the conical roof and is viewed from a 5 m high platform at the centre of the rotunda.

The painting depicts several different episodes from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, concentrating on charges by French cavalry. Physical elements in front of the painting, including cut-out figures, fences and bodies made of plaster and papier mache, disguise the lower edge of the painting and enhance its immersive quality.

The building and the painting were protected as historical monuments in 1998. In 2008 the Belgian government proposed that the panorama should be included within a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing.

The Waterloo Panorama is one of few original panoramas that have survived and which are still exhibited in their original location. Other panoramas of the Battle of Waterloo, by Charles Verlat, Paul Philippoteaux and fr have been lost.