ABSTRACT
The Panorama Mesdag in The Hague, the Netherlands, opened in 1881 and is the oldest surviving panorama still to be found in its original, dedicated location. It is the creation of Dutch maritime artist Hendrik Willem Mesdag (1831-1915). The vast 360-degree panorama depicts The Hague’s seaside resort of Scheveningen in meticulous detail. However, the work is more than a simple touristic pleasure, but rather a profoundly accomplished comment on the construction of reality. Panoramas are part of a continuum of larger-than-life visual displays that are antecedents of, or analogues to, the cinematic experience. In particular, there are illuminating parallels to be drawn between the Panorama Mesdag and the 1998 feature film THE TRUMAN SHow, both of which explore the limits of illusion, albeit in different eras of representation.
