From bunker to browser: the Murten Panorama reborn in terapixel resolution

Opening image: The Terapixel Panorama displayed in the interactive, augmented 360-degree environment (2025) © Laboratory for Experimental Museology, EPFL

A masterpiece once hidden away in a bunker in the Swiss Alps can now be viewed by the whole world – thanks to digital innovation, years of scientific work and the image precision made possible by Phase One.

On the anniversary of the Battle of Murten (22 June 1476), the Terapixel Panorama went live, presenting one of Switzerland’s most significant cultural treasures as a fully immersive, interactive digital experience. Captured with the Phase One iXH 150MP camera, the 1.6-trillion-pixel image now holds the world record as the largest digital image ever created of a physical object.

“With the Terapixel Panorama, we are not just preserving a national treasure – we are inviting the world to explore it in ways never before possible,” said Professor Sarah Kenderdine, director of the Laboratory for Experimental Museology (eM+) at EPFL. “Phase One’s imaging precision was fundamental in enabling this unprecedented level of detail and colour accuracy.”

A detail of the process of photographing the Panorama of the Battle of Murten with a Phase One camera (2023) © Laboratory for Experimental Museology, EPFL

Digital preservation, elevated

The original painting, the Panorama of the Battle of Murten, was created by the German artist Louis Braun in 1893. The monumental 10 x 100-metre work was first exhibited in Zurich in 1894 and later in Geneva in 1907, before finally being stored for decades in a mountain bunker.

In 2022, the EPFL eM+ team, led by Professor Kenderdine, embarked on an ambitious mission to digitise the entire 1,000 m² canvas at 1,000 ppi. Using a Phase One iXH camera, a 72 mm MK II lens and a D8 R+ LED panel, the team captured approximately 26,000 ultra-high-resolution images, which were later stitched together into a single terapixel file.

The Terapixel Panorama displayed in the interactive, augmented 360-degree environment (2025) © Laboratory for Experimental Museology, EPFL

This setup ensured:

• Industrial-grade performance with zero dropped frames
• Even lighting across every frame, thanks to cross-polarisation
• Exceptional sharpness and colour fidelity, critical for stitching and scholarly research

The Terapixel Panorama displayed in the interactive, augmented 360-degree environment (2025) © Laboratory for Experimental Museology, EPFL

It is the image fidelity delivered by Phase One that makes an experience of this depth possible. From revealing the finest details to enabling scholarly annotation through IIIF manifest integration, it represents a benchmark in cultural heritage digitisation.

A detail from the process of photographing the Panorama of the Battle of Murten with a Phase One camera (2023) © Laboratory for Experimental Museology, EPFL

A new standard in heritage imaging

The Murten Panorama project is more than a preservation milestone – it is a case study in what is possible when academic vision meets imaging excellence. For Phase One, it is yet another example of how our heritage imaging solutions enable institutions to digitise, preserve and share the world’s cultural heritage like never before.

Source: Largest Terapixel Digital Image: Murten Panorama | Phase One