Il Panorama di Parigi da Montmartre (1814): narrazione tra parole e immagine

The studies on the 19th century Panorama, conducted since the 20th century, have been conducted by art historians and visual culture experts. The greatest obstacle encountered by these scholars is the almost total loss of the large painted canvases: against a large production only a small number have been preserved, due to numerous exhibitions. On the other hand, most of the descriptive texts and related horizontal panoramas have been preserved, allowing scholars to know the characteristics, appearance and exhibitions across Europe, at least partially. The panorama, in its cylindrical and horizontal version, and the descriptive text sum up vision and narration in a single experience, emphasising the descriptivism of drawing and the ability of words to create images. In the case study of the Panorama of Paris from Montmartre, the cylindrical canvas has not been preserved. Still, the horizontal panorama and its description succeed in depicting the cylindrical image and it is possible to recreate this image thanks to the principles of catoptric anamorphosis.