- Corinthian columns in front are monolithic, made from marble
- Corinthian: last developed, most ornate of the orders
- imported from Egypt
- the porch: rectilinear
- upon entry, the space opens up into a curvilinear, radial interior
- structural system looks like it is based on a series of intersecting arches-eight in total, all where statues of deities would have been housed on the interior
- structural system is actually dependent on concrete
- the concrete would have been built on wooden forms, which where then removed after the concrete dried
- this allowed Romans to create vast interior spaces
- the barrel is made from concrete, travertine, and tufa and the walls are made from brick and concrete
- lighter materials used at the top of the dome
- barrel=terrestrial, dome=divine
- 141 feet tall
| - originally used as a temple to the gods, then made into a church
- Emperor Hadrian would hold court inside the Pantheon
- originally contained sculptures of the gods and deified emperors, focused on the divine
- was given to Pope Boniface the IV in 608 AD and was used as a Catholic Church (part of why it has been preserved so well)
- an expression of Hadrian's wealth and power
- the oculus's light functions similar to a sundial
| - would have originally been fitted in bronze
- nowadays, we step down to reach the Pantheon, but this is because the street level of Roma has risen through the years--originally would have risen above the street
- the current-day Piazza, or square in front of the Pantheon, was originally a larger rectangular space framed by a colonnade
- this would have covered up from view the conical back of the Pantheon, so visitors would have only seen the traditional column-front
- would have inspired a sense of shock and awe to enter and see the spherical interior
- the pediment would have held a sculpture that acted out the battle of the titans
- one enters through a set of massive bronze doors
- the spherical inside completely fills a person's field of vision, and is representative of human power because it goes all the way to the limits of your sight
- eight arches which would have housed statues of deities and emperors--the statues of Augustus and Agrippa stood in the apse at the end of the colonnaded side aisles of the entrance
- the center-point of focus in the interior is right smack in the center, which helps create the spherical effect
- huge amounts of geometric representation used on the inside--circles, rectangles, squares
- the floor is tiled with concentric circles and squares
- almost all of it is mathematically proportioned--for example, the columns on the interior line up perfectly with the fake windows on top of them, but these do not line up with the coffers of the dome, which gives the effect that the dome is independent from the barrel
- coffers were originally painted and had gilded rosettes
- hole in the top of the dome called the oculus
- one great window
- when it rains, the water comes in!
- reflects the movement of the heavens because of how the sharp circle of light moves across the building
| - best preserved ancient roman monument
- synthesis of tradition and innovation
- the Pantheon was commissioned by the Emperor Hadrian c. 125 AD (new info suggests it may have been started by Trajan before him)
- representative of the Roman advance in architecture (mainly caused by the use of concrete that allowed spaces to open up) that a building could shape the space
- most influential building in architecture in the Renaissance
- replaced Commander Marcus Agrippa's pantheon that rested in the same place
- the inscription above the doorway still reads as a tribute to Marcus Agrippa
- bears no signature of Hadrian
- later, Italian kings and Raphael of the Renaissance would be buried inside
http://www.rome.info/pantheon/
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