{{Short description|Painting by Louis Dumoulin in a rotunda by Franz Van Ophem}} {{no footnotes|date=March 2016}} [[File:Belgique - Brabant wallon - Panorama de la bataille de Waterloo - 03.jpg|300x300px|thumb|The rotunda of the Panorama of the Battle of Waterloo with the Lion's Mound behind]] The '''Panorama of the Battle of Waterloo''' ({{langx|fr|Panorama de la Bataille de Waterloo}}) is a rotunda in Belgium that houses a monumental panoramic painting depicting the Battle of Waterloo. The neoclassical building is located immediately to the north of the Lion's Mound on the battlefield of the Battle of Waterloo in the municipality of Braine-l'Alleud in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant.
== Design == The rotunda was designed by the architect {{Interlanguage link|Franz Van Ophem|fr}} in 1911. It has an external diameter of {{convert|35|m}} and stands {{convert|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 {{convert|110|m}} in circumference and {{convert|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 {{convert|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 {{Interlanguage link|Charles Castellani|fr}} have been lost.
<gallery widths=180px heights=180px> File:Waterloo panorama museum.JPG|The rotunda as seen from the Lion's Mound File:Panorama de la Bataille de Waterloo 02.JPG|The entrance File:Belgium-6745C - Marshal Ney (14154954584).jpg|Painting detail: Marshal Ney of France leading a charge File:Belgium-6756 - Duke of Wellington - back right (14152047342).jpg|Painting detail: the Duke of Wellington and his staff (top right) sheltering from French cuirassiers in a square of Highland infantry </gallery>
==See also== * List of Waterloo Battlefield locations
==References== {{commons category|Panorama de la Bataille de Waterloo}}
* ''Based on a translation of the French article'' * [https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5364/ Le Panorama de la Bataille de Waterloo, exemple particulièrement significatif de « Phénomène de Panoramas »], UNESCO submission, 8 April 2008
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Category:Waterloo Battlefield locations Category:Buildings and structures in Walloon Brabant Category:Cycloramas Category:1912 paintings Category:Waterloo campaign in paintings Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1911 Category:Neoclassical architecture in Belgium Category:Rotundas in Europe Category:Braine-l'Alleud Category:Paintings of horses