Plastic Panorama of Old Lviv

Plastic Panorama of Old Lviv (Polish: "Panorama Plastyczna Dawnego Lwowa") is a model of the city of Lwow (now Lviv, Ukraine), as it looked like in mid-18th century. The model, with measurments of 4 by 3.6 meters and 1:200 scale, was made in the interbellum period under supervision of architect and art historian, Janusz Witwicki.

The Panorama shows all buildings and streets that were found within city walls of the 18th century Lwow. It was made of Bristol board, lead, sheet copper and wire, and colored with paints and different acids. At first, Witwicki himself financed the project, some time in mid-1930s a foundation was created, which collected money for it. In the first half of 1939 authorities of Lwow decided to cover one-third of expenses, but by September 1, 1939 (see: Polish September Campaign) they gave Witwicki only 10 000 zlotys. At the beginning of World War Two, models of the biggest building had already been made.

During Soviet (1939-1941) and German (1941-1944) occupations of the city, Witwicki worked on the model by himself, helped by some 20 persons.

After the war, Soviet authorities tried to prevent Witwicki from taking the Panorama with him to Poland. His documentation was confiscated, it now is kept by the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Finally, on July 16, 1946, Witwicki unexpectedly died in unknown circumstances, probably he was murdered by the NKVD. After the death, his wife managed to take the Panorama to Warsaw, where it was secretly kept in magazines of the National Museum by professor Stanislaw Lorentz.

The Panorama was finally transported to Wroclaw, where many Polish inhabitants of Lwow settled after the war. After renovation, it was featured in the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw, but since 2003 it has been kept in a magazine.

External links

* [http://www.lwow.home.pl/panorama/witwicki.html Webpage about the Panorama]