LE PANTHEON DE LA GUERRE, The Largest Painting in the World

LE PANTHEON DE LA GUERRE

In a circular building on the Midway was a gigantic panorama of World War I painted upon a canvas 402 feet long and 45 feet high. "The Pantheon" building at A Century of Progress was especially constructed to house the painting. The painting was viewed from platforms at two levels, which accomodated 1,000 persons. The upper platform was an unobstructed circle over fifty feet in diameter, from which the whole circuit of the painting could be viewed. The lower platform formed a ring, with the outer surface about twenty feet nearer the canvas than that of the upper circle, and was at an angle that gave the spectator an eye-level view of the large foreground portraits in the painting.

It took 130 artists to create this monumental masterpiece. They worked upon it from October 1914 until after the Armistice. While the picture was being painted, Paris was being continuously bombarded.

Against a background of war-ravaged France and Belgium stood groups of more than 6,000 individuals. All the famous leaders of the Allied nations, the great heroes, and the martyrs were depicted. Twenty-eight nations were represented.

The painting was said to have cost $500,000 and it was presented at the fair under the sponsorship of Pershing Hall, the A.E.F. memorial building in Paris.

220 × 326 - newmiamiarch.org

 

Francis Dubois was born and raised in Alsace, France, and had a very distinguished career with the United Nations. He served as the Deputy Coordinator of the UN Secretary General in the Palestinian Territories, then posted to Iraq as the Head of the UN Office ( with the rank of Ambassador ), and subsequently in Algeria , and Tunisia in the same capacity.

Since his retirement, Francis Dubois is an active member of several  non-governmental organizations and serves on their boards. Presently, he is the  President of Le Comite La Fayette, in  New York, an organization that promotes French-American relations. Also, as a Paul Harris Fellow ,  he is a regular attendee of the monthly Breakfast meeting of the Rotary Club at the UN.