The Panorama Mesdag: A Trip Back in Time to the Hague, Netherlands in 1880

The Hague is the governmental seat of the Netherlands. This charming city is filled with beautiful old buildings and detailed historical architecture. It holds countless art treasures and visual detail to enjoy. The people are warm and welcoming. It is also home to a very special art museum know as The Panorama Mesdag.

Although not as well known or publicized as other art museums in The Netherlands are, this hidden gem, The Panorama Mesdag, is definitely a site for any person who enjoys art, to put on their agenda when visiting The Hague. Its uniqueness alone makes it a special addition to any art lovers visit. The additional appeal of this spectacular painting, is that even for the person not particularly interested in viewing art, the technical and historical background of how it was created and how it isdisplayed, makes the viewing even more interesting.

The Panorama Mesdag is situated in the heart of the city of the Hague. It is an unassuming striped building nestled among other businesses and buildings, on one of The Hague's many small picturesque city streets . It doesn't look like it would hold anything spectacular, but this particular building houses a very special piece of artwork.

The ground floor of the building contains a small art gallery of paintings. These are worth a look too. The crown jewel, for which the Panorama Mesdag is named, is at the back of the building.

To get to this masterpiece you have to climb a small winding stairway. It leads to the heart and namesake of this museum. At the top of the steps you emerge out onto a covered viewing area. You are suddenly immersed into a time machine of sorts. Surrounding the viewing deck is a foreground of a real sand and beach detail that slopes down to an enormous cylindrical painting, also known as a Cyclorama.This painting is called The Panorama Mesdag. You are standing at the top of a sand-dune looking down at the city in its past glory, in a simpler time.

The painting itself is a view of The Hague beach community of Scheveningen in The Hague, in the 19th century. As you stand looking at this amazing work and walk around the 360 degree viewing deck, it is as if the city was preserved and frozen in time, in the upstairs gallery of this museum. The buildings and activity of the era are painted in grand scale from floor to ceiling. There is sky around you. The Panorama Mesdag gives you the feel that you have been transported back in time, where you can see precisely what that area looked like in 1881. You can almost smell the fresh North Sea air surrounding you, as you stand there looking at the buildings, fishing boats and activity of the time.

It is interesting trying to orient yourself and place to the current landmarks of the city, in this painted vision of its past. Some of the buildings represented in the painting still stand. Others have disappeared.

This painting gives you a very different experience than viewing other paintings does. It has a feeling of actually being and stepping into the area at that time. You have, for a moment, become a part of history.

The massive painting, measuring 120 meters in circumference and 14 meters high, was a joint effort created by Hendrik Willem Mesdag, his wife and a group of art students. It was begun in 1880 and completed in 1881. It is still housed in its original building. It fills the room in 360 degrees around you, from floor to ceiling.

There is additional information available there about the history, viewing and mounting techniques. For those who are interested in the "how did they do this", behind the magnificent painting, it is also possible to peek in small viewing windows at the bottom of the painting. There you can see exactly how The Panorama Mesdag is mounted and displayed.

The Panorama Mesdag is located at Zeestraat 65 in The Hague. It is open every day except Christmas Day and New Year's Day. There is a small admission fee. Wheelchair admission is by appointment only.