A monumental work of art
From 22 October 2026 to 25 January 2027, Grandson Castle presents an immersive exhibition inviting visitors to explore the digital twin of the Battle of Morat Panorama through the Panoramic Navigator, an interactive installation making its debut in Switzerland.
Hidden from view for 20 years
Created between 1893 and 1894 by Louis Braun and his studio, the Panorama of the Battle of Morat measures 10 metres high and 100 metres long. It depicts the victory of the Swiss Confederates over Charles the Bold on 22 June 1476. Rather than offering a faithful reconstruction of the event, however, the painting presents an interpretation from the late 19th century, a period when modern Switzerland was shaping its great national narratives.
After attracting large audiences in Zurich and Geneva, the work gradually fell into obscurity with the emergence of new media such as cinema. Restored in 1996 and exhibited in Jean Nouvel’s Monolith in Morat during the 2002 Swiss National Exhibition, it has since been kept rolled up in a military depot, away from public view. It is also the only one of the four surviving 19th-century panoramas in Switzerland never to have been permanently displayed.
In 2022, the Terapixel Panorama project, led by Professor Sarah Kenderdine at EPFL’s Laboratory for Experimental Museology, set out to digitise the entire painting. The result: a 1.6-terapixel digital twin assembled from 27,000 images. It is the largest digital image ever produced from a physical object. The resolution is so remarkable that every individual brushstroke can be seen.
Lose yourself in the painting
At the heart of the exhibition is the Panoramic Navigator, presented for the first time in Switzerland. This unique interactive installation allows visitors to immerse themselves in the image, zoom in seemingly without limit and explore the artistic choices that shaped this historical narrative. Visuals, sound and digital content transform the historic artwork into a vivid, multisensory experience.
Sponsors and donors
The exhibition forms part of the commemorations marking the 550th anniversary of the Burgundian Wars. It is organised in collaboration with the Terapixel Panorama project at EPFL’s Laboratory for Experimental Museology, with the support of the Fondation pour le panorama de la bataille de Morat (1476) / Stiftung für das Panorama der Schlacht bei Murten (1476).
The Terapixel Panorama project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Loterie Romande (Fribourg), Loterie Romande (Conférence des Présidents des Organes de Répartition), Loterie Romande (Vaud), the Municipality of Morat, the Canton of Fribourg, the Federal Office of Culture, the Association des Amis du Panorama, the Fondation Etrillard, the Ernst Göhner Stiftung, the Stiftung für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, the Fondation UBS pour la culture, the Association suisse d’histoire et de sciences militaires, and Phase One™.