Panoramic images were a form of mass media in the 19th century. Today, circular paintings can be interpreted not only as a precursor of the cinema, but also as a pioneer of state-of-the-art digital presentation forms. The Bourbaki Panorama was painted by Edouard Castres in Geneva in 1881. Castres realistically depicted the misery of war, thereby revealing his zealous commitment to peace.

Castres's panorama depicts the internment in the Val-de-Travers valley, to which the painter was an eyewitness. The French soldiers were disarmed by the Swiss Army, looked after by civilian volunteers, and provided with medical care by the Red Cross. In March 1871, after the war was over, the “Bourbakis” left neutral Switzerland and returned home. Civil society, the state, and aid organisations approached this overwhelming task as a matter of course, which laid the foundations of the humanitarian and neutral tradition that has lasted until today in Switzerland.