The Pantheon
Moore, David. "The Pantheon." Roman Concrete. (1995). Web 26 June 2016.
The Pantheon impresses with its size but it looks peaceful inside it. Solid wall round the perimeter has many niches. The idea of the Pantheon is in harmony with the surrounding world. The height of the building is equal to the diameter of the rotunda. People enter the temple through the lobby, which goes into a portico with 16 columns. Each column looks very massive. Their main parts are made of Egyptian red granite, and base and capitals - from Greek marble. Despite the impressive size of the portico, it seemed to be a counterbalance to the massive cylinder of the rotunda and its decoration.
The Pantheon was built in the II century AD during the ruling of Emperor Hadrian in Rome, Italy. It relates to Roman art and still a big mystery for scientists and even the purpose of the Pantheon is still unknown because it doesn’t look like a traditional temple of that time and too innovative technologies were used to make it. Rome and the Roman Pantheon were founded as the result of bloodshed. The original Pantheon was built in 27 B.C. after the death of Anthony and Cleopatra at Actium. It looked like a small building and was dedicated to planetary gods. Unfortunately, fires damaged the building and Emperor Hadrian rebuilt it. He ordered to save the original building but to use a different design, cylindrical wall, and make one dome. It is widely believed that Agrippa built the Pantheon while Hadrian built it to save its status of a Catholic church. (Moore, 22) The design of the façade of the Pantheon looks similar to the façade of the Greek Parthenon, the sanctuary is a perfect circle enclosed by a dome. Such space was designed to accommodate a number of modern gods and provide them with equal pride of place. Jupiter Optimus Maximu is a chief god in the Pantheon.
Rome & Athens Tour: Highlights of Antiquity and Modernity. Zikasso. (N.d.). Web 26 June 2016.
The meaning of the building “across or including all the gods” proves this idea. Only one window in the building lights the interior. It was important to connect pagan gods with astral bodies that are observed through the window. Thus, the window exists in the structure of the building because it was the most convenient place to locate it in the dome. The dome has a great planning and if the of the dome is continued downward, it looks like a sphere that would rest on the floor. (Cooler, 6-7) There are many concerns regarding design and construction of the dome. It has three sections inside the dome - the lower section; a smooth section; and the oculus in the center. There are 140 coffers, each has four steps that are decorative. Thus, how the ancient people used technology to construct such coffers? The oculus in the dome provides natural daylight in this windowless building. From the other point of view, no rain can fall into the building because a specific floor moves water to floor drains that remove it. (Moore, 23)
The meaning of the building “across or including all the gods” proves this idea. Only one window in the building lights the interior. It was important to connect pagan gods with astral bodies that are observed through the window. Thus, the window exists in the structure of the building because it was the most convenient place to locate it in the dome. The dome has a great planning and if the of the dome is continued downward, it looks like a sphere that would rest on the floor. (Cooler, 6-7) There are many concerns regarding design and construction of the dome. It has three sections inside the dome - the lower section; a smooth section; and the oculus in the center. There are 140 coffers, each has four steps that are decorative. Thus, how the ancient people used technology to construct such coffers? The oculus in the dome provides natural daylight in this windowless building. From the other point of view, no rain can fall into the building because a specific floor moves water to floor drains that remove it. (Moore, 23) The mortar for Roman concrete combines three components: fine volcanic ash, lime, and water. A load-bearing wall was built using wood and stacked rock. There is a layer that consisted of hand-sized rock or broken bric and tamped pozzolan mortar. The mortar was made using pozzolan, lime, and water. It should be noted that the Roman builders used different weights for different zones to reduce the common weight of the concrete. The foundation is made of travertine that is a rock. In some ports of the building, aggregate includes tufa and pumice. As the result, a graded wall was made. (Moore, 21)
An interior decoration in the Temple of the Gods is very interesting too. Walls and floors are made of marble of different colors. There are huge gates made of bronze, their height is nearly 7 meters. The gate was built in the era of Antiquity and was restored since that time. In fact, not every construction of that time had a chance to save because after the change of paganism, Christianity came to Rome and many religious buildings were destroyed. However, the Pantheon was converted to a Christian church, and no changes were made in its architecture.
Pantheon Sections (left picture: Ward-Perkins, John Bryan. "Roman Imperial Architecture." Penguin Books, (1985): 111. Web 26 June 2016., right picture: MacDonald, William. "The Pantheon." Harvard University Press. (1976): 37. Web 26 June 2016.)
This work of art is important to the history of art because nobody can understand how ancient people managed to build it. There is the mysterious oculus in the dome of the Pantheon, through which the sky, the sun, moon, and stars can be observed. This hole has acquired many legends over time. One of them says that oculus was absent previously. The first ritual was held in already finished building. While it was carrying out the evil spirits did not survive, and they broke a hole in the top of the dome. However, the legend does not explain why oculus has a geometric shape and smooth edges. Despite legends, the dome of the Pantheon hole attracts attention because it is the largest such structure in the world, its inner diameter is nearly 43 meters. The huge dome looks like a perfect semicircle that crowns Pantheon and provides it with unprecedented glory.
In order to test comprehension of the information in essay, I’d like to ask such questions:
1. What was the initial purpose of the Pantheon?
2. When and why the original Pantheon was built?
Works Cited
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's
BashaiTudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 15.1 (1996): 41-50. Print.
Cooler, Richard. "The Sacred Geometry of Perfect Forms in East and West" (N.d.): 1-14. Print.
MacDonald, William. "The Pantheon." Harvard University Press. (1976): 37. Web 26 June
2016.
Moore, David. "The pantheon: crown jewel of roman concrete." Constructor (2002): 22-26.
Print.
Moore, David. "The Pantheon." Roman Concrete. (1995). Web 26 June 2016.
Rome & Athens Tour: Highlights of Antiquity and Modernity. Zikasso. (N.d.). Web
26 June 2016.
Ward-Perkins, John Bryan. "Roman Imperial Architecture." Penguin Books, (1985): 111. Web
26 June 2016.
