The Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said that the panorama “Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855”, created by artist Franz Roubaud at the beginning of the 20th century, was “virtually destroyed” as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack.
The attack occurred on the night of June 10. At around 4 a.m. Moscow time, Razvozaev reported that the roof of the museum building caught fire. A few hours later, he said the fire was classified as level 4 complexity, and more than 80 people were working at the site.
“The situation is very difficult: it is already clear that Franz Roubaud’s great masterpiece has been practically destroyed,” Razvozaev wrote.
He added that the Ukrainian armed forces targeted the museum. Ukraine did not comment on the attack.
The panorama “Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855” was opened in 1905 – on the 50th anniversary of its foundation. The author of the painting is Franz Roubaud, who is considered the founder of the Russian school of battle and panoramic painting. Another of his famous works is the panorama of the Battle of Borodino, which is displayed in the museum on Kutuzovsky Prospekt in Moscow.
Robo worked at Sevastopol Panorama for four years. The artist chose the day of repulsion of the attack on Malakhov Kurgan on June 6 (18), 1855 as his theme. The building in which the plaque is placed was designed by military engineer Friedrich Oskar Enberg.
In June 1942, as a result of a German air raid and artillery bombardment, the Panorama building caught fire. To preserve the canvas, it was cut into pieces, but only two-thirds of the painting (86 parts) was preserved. They were taken to Novorossiysk and then transferred to Moscow.
The painting now displayed in the Panoramic Building in Sevastopol is a job A team of Soviet artists restored the painting based on preserved parts of the original. On the occasion of the centenary of the First Defense of Sevastopol, the canvas and the panorama building itself were recreated, and the museum was reopened.