Panorama of the Battle of Waterloo by Ionic pilasters, and crowned with parapet with a frieze of palmettes. The entrance porch has two pairs of Tuscan columns supporting a triangular pediment. The rotunda houses an oil-on-canvas painting completed by French artist Louis Dumoulin in 1912, with 14 canvas panels sewn together to create a cylinder approximately in circumference and high. It is lit from above by a ring of glazing around the edge of the conical roof and is viewed from a high platform at the centre of the rotunda. The painting depicts several different episodes from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, concentrating on charges
Battle of Waterloo day he withdrew northwards, to a defensive position he had reconnoitred the previous year—the low ridge of Mont-Saint-Jean, south of the village of Waterloo and the Sonian Forest. Napoleon, with the reserves, made a late start on 17 June and joined Ney at Quatre Bras at 13:00 to attack Wellington's army but found the position empty. The French pursued Wellington's retreating army to Waterloo; however, due to bad weather, mud and the head start that Napoleon's tardy advance had allowed Wellington, apart from a cavalry action at Genappe, there was no substantial engagement. Before leaving Ligny, Napoleon had ordered Grouchy,