ItalyWorld

From Temple to Church: The Evolution of the Pantheon

A Journey Through History: The Pantheon from Ancient Rome to the Modern Era

The Pantheon is an ancient Roman temple and it was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated to. Its construction date is uncertain because Hadrian chose not to inscribe the new temple.

Advertisement 126 Its development date is questionable since Hadrian chose not to engrave the modern sanctuary, but to keep the engraving of the more seasoned sanctuary of Agrippa, which had burned down.

The building is round and hollow with a colonnade of expansive Corinthian rock columns beneath a pediment. A rectangular vestibule interfaces the colonnade to the rotunda, which sits beneath a coffered concrete arch with a central opening to the sky. Almost two thousand years after its construction, the Pantheon’s dome is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.

The height of the oculus and the diameter of the inner circle are the same, 43 meters. It is one of the best preserved ancient Roman buildings, mainly because it has been in continuous use throughout its history: since the 7th Mary and the Martyrs, but known informally as “Santa Maria Rotonda”. The square before the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda.

Pantheon, Rome
Pantheon, Rome

The Pantheon could be a state property overseen by the Italian Service of Social Legacy and Exercises and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio. In 2013 it has gone to more than 6 million people. The huge circularly vaulted cella of the Pantheon, with a customary sanctuary colonnade front, was one of a kind in Roman architecture.

However, it became a standard specimen as classical styles were revived and were copied many times by later architects.

Etymology in Pantheon, Rome

The title “Pantheon” comes from the antiquated Greek “Pantheion” meaning “of, related or common to all divine beings”: Cassius Dio, a Roman representative who composed in Greek, guessed that the gallery came from the statues of many godsโ€™ region around this building, or from the dome’s resemblance to the sky.

His instability emphatically recommends that “Pantheon” or Pantheum was essentially a moniker, not the building’s formal title. The concept of a pantheon dedicated to all gods is questionable. The only definitive pantheon recorded before Agrippas was at Antioch in Syria, although it is only mentioned by a sixth-century source.

Ziegler endeavored to accumulate prove of pantheons, but his list comprises basic commitments “to all the divine beings” or “to the twelve divine beings,” which are not fundamentally genuine pantheons within the sense of a sanctuary lodging a faction that reveres all divine beings.

History in Pantheon, Rome
History in Pantheon, Rome

History in Pantheon, Rome

1. Ancient

After the Fight of Actium, Marcus Agrippa started an amazing building program: the Pantheon was the portion of the complex he built in 29-19 BC. on his property on the Field of Defaces. C., which included three buildings situated south to north: the Showers of Agrippa, the Basilica of Neptune, and the Pantheon.

It seems likely that the Pantheon and Basilica of Neptune were Agrippa’s sacra private, not Aedes publican Defaces. C., which included three buildings situated south to north: the Showers of Agrippa, the Basilica of Neptune, and the Pantheon.

2. Medieval

In 609, the Byzantine sovereign Phocas gave the building to Pope Boniface IV, who changed over it into a Christian church on 13 within the old sanctuary called the Pantheon, after removing the pagan dirt, a church should be built for the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the martyrs so that from now on the saints would be remembered where before gods, but demons, were worshiped.

It is said that twenty-eight wagonloads of holy relics of the martyrs were taken from the catacombs and placed in a porphyry bowl under the high altar. At its consecration, Boniface placed an icon of the mother of God as “Panagia Odigitria” inside the new sanctuary. The consecration of the building as a church saved it from abandonment, destruction, and the worst looting that most buildings in ancient Rome suffered in the early Middle Ages.

Pantheon in Rome
Pantheon in Rome

However, Paul the Deacon reports the sack of the building by Emperor Constant II, who visited Rome in July 663:During a twelve-day stay in Rome, he destroyed everything that had previously been of metal for the decoration of the city, to such an extent that he even tore off the roof of the church which at the same time was called the Pantheon, it was closed and erected in honor of all the gods, and was now, according to the consent of the former sovereigns, the seat of all the martyrs; and he took the copper plates from there and sent them with all the other ornaments to Constantinople.

Much finer exterior marble has been removed over the centuries; For example, the capitals of some pilasters are in the British Museum. Two columns were swallowed up and lost in the medieval buildings adjacent to the Pantheon to the east.

3. Renaissance

Since the Renaissance, the Pantheon has been the location of a few vital burials. Among those buried are the Annibale Carracci and painters Raffael, the composer Arcangelo Corelli and the modeler Baldassare Peruzzi. In the fifteenth century, the Pantheon was decorated with paintings: the most famous is the Annunciation by Melozzo da Forlรฌ.

Filippo Brunelleschi, among other architects, looked to the Pantheon as an inspiration for his works. InPope Urban VIII (1623-1644) ordered the casting of the bronze roof of the portico of the Pantheon. Most of the bronze was used to make pumps for the Castel Sant’Angelo fortress, the rest was used by the Apostolic Chamber for other work.

Renaissance, Pantheon, Rome
Renaissance, Pantheon, Rome

Bernini is also said to have used the bronze to create his famous canopy over the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, but according to at least one expert, the Pope’s reports state that about 90% of the bronze used for the cannon was that the bronze for the canopy came from Venice came from.

In 1747 the wide frieze beneath the arch, with its untrue windows, was “reestablished”, but it bore a small likeness to the first. In the first decades of the 20th century, part of the original was reproduced in one of the panels, based on drawings and paintings from the Renaissance whenever possible.

4. Modern

Both Umberto I and Vittorio Emanuele II, as well as Queen Margherita of Umberto, are interred in the Pantheon. The House of Savoy’s Italian kings were supposed to be laid to rest there, but after the monarchy was overthrown in 1946, the authorities refused to bury the exiled monarchs.

The National Institute for the Honor Guard of the Royal Tombs of the Pantheon, which establishes honor guards at the Regnant Tombs of the Pantheon, was originally founded by the House of Savoy and later, with the approval of the Italian Republic, operated mounts as the honor guard in front of the Royal Tombs.

The Pantheon is used as a Catholic church and as such visitors are asked to maintain a proper level of reverence. Masses are celebrated there on Sundays and public holidays. Weddings are also occasionally held there.

Structure of the Pantheon

Structure of the Pantheon
Structure of the Pantheon

1. Portico

Access to the building was originally via a staircase. Subsequent construction work raised the ground floor leading to the portico and eliminated these steps. The pediment was decorated with relief sculptures, probably in gilded bronze.

ย The holes marking the location of the brackets that supported the sculpture suggest its design was likely an eagle in a crown; Ribbons stretched from the crown to the corners of the pediment. The remains of a second pediment in the block in between the portico and the rotunda suggest that the existing portico is much shorter than first believed.

ย A portico aligned with the second pediment would accommodate columns with 50-foot Roman shafts and 10-foot Roman capitals, while the existing portico has 40-foot Roman shafts and 8-foot Roman capitals. Mark Wilson Jones has attempted to explain design adjustments by implying that after the upper pediment was built, the required 50-foot columns did not arrive.

Then the builders had to make some cumbersome adjustments to accommodate the shorter columns and pediments. In 1747 the wide frieze beneath the arch, with its untrue windows, was “reestablished”, but it bore a small likeness to the first.

Pantheon, Rome, Italy
Pantheon, Rome, Italy

Assuming that each column is first placed on the ground beside its pediment before erecting, there would be a space requirement of one column length on one side of the pediment and at least one column length on the other opposite side for pivoting equipment and ropes. With 50-foot columns, โ€œthere was no way to sequence the build without generating a hopeless growl.

The shafts were simply too long to lie on the ground in any useful configuration, regardless of order.โ€ The innermost row of columns in particular would be blocked by the main body of the temple, and in later stages of construction, some columns already erected would inevitably interfere with the erection of other columns.

2. Rotunda

The Roman concrete dome’s weight of 4,535 tons is concentrated in a ring of voussoirs 9.1 meters in diameter that form the oculus, while the dome’s downward thrust is continued using eight-barrel vaults in the 6.4-meter-thick drum wall. Eight columns The thickness of the Arch ranges from 6.4 meters at the base of the arch to 1 meter.2 meters around the oculus. The materials utilized within the concrete of the arch shift.

At its thickest point, the total is made of travertine, at that point earthenware tiles, and at that point at the best tuff and pumice, both marginally permeable stones.

View of Pantheon, Rome
View of Pantheon, Rome

At its thickest point, the aggregate is made of travertine, then terracotta tiles, then at the top tuff and pumice, both slightly porous stones. At the top, where the dome would be weakest and most prone to collapse, the Oculus lightens the load.

beams in the dome of the Pantheon Results of tensile tests on the concrete used in the Pantheon are not available; However, Cowan discussed tests on ancient concrete from Roman ruins in Libya, which showed a compressive strength of 20 MPa.

3. Interior

Visitors are welcomed by a sizable circle room covered by the dome as soon as they enter. Never being covered, the oculus at the top of the dome allowed rain to leak through the roof to the ground. For this reason, the inner floor is equipped with drains and built with a slope of about 30 centimeters to favor water drainage.

The interior of the dome was probably intended to symbolize the arched vault of heaven. The oculus at the top of the dome and the front door are the only sources of natural light inside. Throughout the day, the light of the oculus moves through this space in an inverted sundial effect: time is marked with light instead of shadow.

Interior of Pantheon, Rome
Interior of Pantheon, Rome

The oculus too gives cooling and ventilation; Amid storms, an underfloor seepage framework channels rain falling through the oculus.

The arch highlights depressed boards in five rings of 28. This equally dispersed plan was troublesome to attain and had a few typical meanings, whether numerical, geometric, or lunar.

The dome features sunken panels in five rings of 28. This evenly spaced design was difficult to achieve and presumably had some symbolic meaning, whether numerical, geometric, or lunar. In ancient times, the chests may have contained bronze rosettes symbolizing the starry sky.

Catholic additions in Pantheon

The main altars and today’s apses were built by Pope Clement XI. (1700-1721) and designed by Alessandro Specchi. In the apse above the main altar is a 7th-century Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child, presented to Pope Boniface IV with the seal on May 13, 609, at the inauguration of the Pantheon for Christian worship. I was. The choir was added in 1840 and designed by Luigi Poletti.

Exterior of Pantheon, Rome
Exterior of Pantheon, Rome

Virgin of the Girdle and Saint Nicholas of Bari are depicted in the first niche to the right of the entrance by an unidentified painter. Melozzo da Forl is credited with painting the Annunciation in the Chapel of the Annunciation, the first chapel on the right.

On the left is a painting by Clement Maioli of San Lorenzo and Santa Agnes. On the right wall is the Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Pietro Paolo Bonzi. A 15th-century fresco from the Tuscan school that portrays the Virgin’s Coronation can be found in the second niche. King Victor Emmanuel II’s tomb is located in the second chapel.

Originally it was dedicated to the Holy Spirit. A competition was announced to decide which architect should design it. Giuseppe Sacconi participated but lost; he later designed the tomb of Umberto I in the chapel opposite.

Manfredo Manfredi won the competition and work began in 1885. A sizable bronze plaque bearing the House of Savoy’s coat of arms and a Roman eagle forms the tomb’s main feature. In memory of Victor Emmanuel III, who passed away in exile in 1947, a golden lamp burns above the tomb.

Top View of Pantheon, Rome
Top View of Pantheon, Rome

Cardinal deaconryย in Pantheon

On July 23, 1725, the Pantheon was erected as the cardinal diaconate of S. Maria ad Martyres, that is, as the titular church of a cardinal deacon. On May 26, 1929, this deaconry was dissolved to replace the deaconry Cardinalizia de S.

Influence in Pantheon

The best-preserved example of a monumental building from Ancient Rome, the Pantheon has had a tremendous impact on Western architecture since at least the Renaissance; starting with the 1436 completed Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, which features a dome that stands 42 meters tall. Brunelleschi.

One of the most well-known examples is Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Ariccia. which followed his restoration work on the Roman original, the Belle Isle House in England, and the library of Thomas Jefferson at the University of Virginia, the Rotunda (1817-1826).

Others include the Rotunda of Mosta in Malta. Other notable replicas such as The Rotunda have not survived. Numerous structures from the 19th and 20th centuries bear the portico and dome shape of the Pantheon, including city halls, public libraries, and numerous government and public buildings.

Related Articles

Back to top button