Lost in Panorama Mesdag

I hadn’t understood a thing.

Before going, I had read: Panorama Mesdag shows the view from the highest dune in Scheveningen.

So naturally, I thought we were going to climb a dune. It seemed a little suspicious for a museum right in the middle of The Hague, but… okay.

And actually, yes. You really do find yourself standing on a dune.

Except that it has been completely recreated inside the museum, right in front of the painting.

At the end of a corridor, you climb a few steps to admire this little gem. And by “little”, I’m getting it wrong again, because this is actually a work of spectacular proportions.

An enormous circular painting, as if you were standing on a dune overlooking Scheveningen in the 19th century: 114 metres around and almost 15 metres high. It is the largest painting in the Netherlands.

And this is where you start to lose yourself in the scenery.

On one side, the sea with its hundreds of boats. On the other, the dunes with houses, lighthouses, tiny figures… There are endless details to discover.

And with kids? A very good move.

They were given binoculars to take it all in, a little activity booklet (not that easy!), and spent a good fifteen minutes searching for details in the panorama.

Fifteen minutes of peace and quiet in a museum with two boys.

But it turned out to be an even better deal than expected, because Jean-Loup left with a Panorama Mesdag colouring sheet.

Result: another two hours of peace and quiet at home.

And of course, when we came out, there was only one thing we wanted to do: see the panorama for real.

Next stop: Scheveningen beach.