Essay On The Pantheon

The pediment, which is now blank, used to be decorated with a relief sculpture made out of bronze. There are also drill holes in the pediment, which suggest that a crest or symbol of some sort was attached on to it. Inside the Pantheon is a dome that has a perfect spherical shape. In the centre of this dome is an opening with a symmetrical circular shape known as the ‘oculus’, which is sometimes also referred to as “Great Eye”. Reasons why these features of architecture were chosen: The meaning of the word ‘Pantheon’ is ‘contains all gods’ with ‘pan’ meaning all and ‘theon’ meaning gods.

The interior of the Pantheon contains altars to individual gods hence the name. The dome in the interior of the Pantheon is round, inclusive and an all-encompassing continuum. These all symbolize the idea of heaven or the dome of heaven. The circular form contains sculptures of gods and deified emperors thus giving the idea of heaven where they all reside. The reason a dome was used was to give the Romans a representation of heaven on earth. The light that falls inside the dome form the sun through the oculus manifests the movements of the heavens on earth as the earthly sphere meets the heavenly sphere.

The oculus also known as the “Great Eye “symbolises the eye of heaven looking down on the earthly sphere. Each of the three types of columns, lonic, Doric and Corinthian represent different things. The Corinthian columns on the porch of the Pantheon represent a tree or “tree of life”. The floral decorations and the acanthus leaves on the capital of these columns further represents this idea of a tree. The smooth shafts of these columns represent the trunk of the tree. Many columns in one place such as the porch of the Pantheon represent a grove of trees.

Some believe hat Corinthian columns were specifically used in a holy place such as the Pantheon because a “groove of trees” is considered as a portal in to the spiritual world. Different coloured marble was used in the interior of the dome. Colours ranging from blues, purples and oranges were used. These different colours are due to the different parts of the empire from which they came from and the use of these inside the dome symbolize the empire reaching all across the earthly sphere. The empire growth during the construction of the Pantheon was vast and the different coloured marbles represent this.

Combined together with the dome, oculus and the Corinthian columns they all symbolize and represent heaven and spirituality, hence why these features of architecture were used in the creation of the Pantheon. Building materials used and why: The interior of the dome was mostly made out of different coloured marbles from all over the empire. This was for symbolism and convince of carving the marble, as the builders pleased. There was an extensive use of cement and concrete to build the dome. There were different compositions of concrete used, however the exact recipe is unknown, as it got lost in history along the way.

This contributes to the lack of primary source evidence. Towards the top of the dome the cement used contains traces of volcanic rock. Volcanic rock is light and brittle and it was used at the top of the dome to prevent the dome from caving in and collapsing on itself. Enormous marble bases supported the Corinthian columns and marble was also used in the capital, as it was easier to carve the scrolls, flowers and the acanthus leaves. Original location of the building and its purpose: The Pantheon is still located where Marcus Agrippa first built it then Domitian followed by Trajan and completed by Hadrian.

This is in Piazza della Rotonda in Rome, Italy. The purpose of the Pantheon was to act as a place of worship for the Romans. It was a temple dedicated to gods and diefied emperors. Limitations of primary source evidence: The limitations of primary source evidence are that there is literally hardly any primary source evidence except for the architecture itself. The Pantheon was built centuries ago and the only information we have is about the emperor who had it built. There is no information on the architects or the builders who worked hands on, on the Pantheon.

These were the people who would have had the exact information on what formula was used to make the concrete and cement, which part of the empire did the different coloured marble come from etc. These sorts of information were probably not recorded. The only information that are closest to the time of construction are those of ancient Roman philosophers and aristocrats who were born after the Pantheon was built and even then that information could be biased. Thankfully the work of architecture still remains in tact and historians today can analyse as much information they can from this amazing work of art.

The work itself is the only primary source evidence that remains to this day; therefore there is a serious lack of primary source evidence eas and values of the period when the work was built: The Pantheon located in Rome, was completed in 125 CE during the reign of the emperor Hadrian [1]. Marcus Agrippa first built it from 27 – 25 BCE only to be destroyed in a fire in 80 CE. It was then rebuilt by emperor Domitian, but was struck by lightning in 110 CE. Construction began for the third time in 98 CE when Trajan was emperor and was completed in 125 CE during the reign of Hadrian.

The Pantheon that was built the third time is the one that is still standing today. It was built during the era where emperor worship was the norm hence why the interior dome consists of altars to the gods and deified emperors. Although emperor worship was on going, this time period was of the “five good emperors”, as they did not want to be worshipped as gods. This was an era where the empire expanded immensely. The emperors during this era were selfless and considerate of the ideas and values of the people. The empire and her people were put above all else.

The emperors were looking to make the empire better and more successful. The people also believed that emperors could be deified, and after death the emperors would return to rest with the gods. This is why there are altars to the emperors along with the gods inside the Pantheon. The people of Rome also believed that temples were portals or gateways to the heavens. It is where they went to communicate with the gods. This is probably why the Pantheon’s architecture contains symbolism that represents the ideas of heaven and a “portal to the spiritual world”.

These are the ideas and values of the people of Rome during the time in which the Pantheon was built. The features of design/architecture chosen: The porch of the Pantheon (Pantheon portico) has a total of twenty-four Corinthian columns with a “triangular pediment” [2] at the top. Corinthian is a style of column first established in ancient Greece, used through out the classical period in architecture. It is a complex design with extravagant decorations craved at the top of the column (“capital”). These include scrolls, flowers and acanthus leaves. The shafts of these columns are not fluted [3].