The Pantheon
The Pantheon, which means “all the gods”, is a Roman temple that was commissioned by Emperor Hadrian, says Cartwright, in honor of Marcus Agrippa. Today the Pantheon is a major tourist attraction because it is the most well preserved building of ancient Rome, during the years 118 - 125 A.D. From the very front, the Pantheon building comes up to a point, making an obtuse triangle. Bellow one will find an inscription saying “M. AGRIPPA L.F. COS TERTIUM FECIT”, which reads, “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, three-time consul, made this” (Cartwright, "Pantheon”). Dr. Harris and Dr. Zucker inform that there are monolith columns, with no fluting, supporting this triangular shape. These monoliths are important because even though the Pantheon …show more content…
Unlike many domes though, the beginning of the dome marks the very center of the building. What’s special about this feature is, if someone was to see the outside of the Pantheon, they could draw a perfect circle within that space. The entire Pantheon inside is made up of various different shapes, such as: circles, rectangles and squares (Dr. Harris and Dr. Zucker, “The Pantheon”). This is very pleasing to the eye because people value symmetry; and geometric shapes are one of the first things people learn in school. Therefore, geometric shapes are a very familiar concept for people, and that’s what makes it so easy for the viewer to look at. When people think of geometric shapes, they usually think of something static, but this building is everything but that. What helps create this illusion of possible motion is the fact that there are many breaks, and not everything lines up in the same direction. An example of this is demonstrated at the center of this space. In the center there are many fake windows that go around in a circle. These windows, though, do not line up with all the squares that line the whole inside of the dome. The fact that there are slight disconnects and breaks makes this structure a very dynamic one (Dr. Harris and Dr. Zucker, “The …show more content…
One of the most impressive components of this space is an alcove that stands opposite of the grand entrance. This alcove, which is an arch opening, is decorated with red porphyry frieze and cornice. This arch opening is then situated between two Corinthian, marble columns of Phrygian purple. All of the other alcoves within this room have one of two types of marble columns. The semi-circular ones are made with Phrygian purple, and the rectangular ones with Numidian yellow. Each alcove has three decorative recess sets for statues, along with a small window. There are seven windows placed around the rotunda walls. The floor of this building is checked with the colors grey granite, red porphyry, Numidian yellow and Phrygian purple marble (Cartwright, "Pantheon”). Another important element within this structure, that was briefly mentioned earlier, was the oculus. There is no glass where the oculus resides. This means that when it rains, the floor actually gets wet. Also, since there is no glass, there is no glare or anything that would affect the direction of sunlight shining in. Thanks to this feature, the oculus works as a sun dial by allowing its visitors to see where the direction of the sun is in the sky (Dr. Harris and Dr. Zucker, “The
The Pantheon, which means “all the gods”, is a Roman temple that was commissioned by Emperor Hadrian, says Cartwright, in honor of Marcus Agrippa. Today the Pantheon is a major tourist attraction because it is the most well preserved building of ancient Rome, during the years 118 - 125 A.D. From the very front, the Pantheon building comes up to a point, making an obtuse triangle. Bellow one will find an inscription saying “M. AGRIPPA L.F. COS TERTIUM FECIT”, which reads, “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, three-time consul, made this” (Cartwright, "Pantheon”). Dr. Harris and Dr. Zucker inform that there are monolith columns, with no fluting, supporting this triangular shape. These monoliths are important because even though the Pantheon …show more content…
Unlike many domes though, the beginning of the dome marks the very center of the building. What’s special about this feature is, if someone was to see the outside of the Pantheon, they could draw a perfect circle within that space. The entire Pantheon inside is made up of various different shapes, such as: circles, rectangles and squares (Dr. Harris and Dr. Zucker, “The Pantheon”). This is very pleasing to the eye because people value symmetry; and geometric shapes are one of the first things people learn in school. Therefore, geometric shapes are a very familiar concept for people, and that’s what makes it so easy for the viewer to look at. When people think of geometric shapes, they usually think of something static, but this building is everything but that. What helps create this illusion of possible motion is the fact that there are many breaks, and not everything lines up in the same direction. An example of this is demonstrated at the center of this space. In the center there are many fake windows that go around in a circle. These windows, though, do not line up with all the squares that line the whole inside of the dome. The fact that there are slight disconnects and breaks makes this structure a very dynamic one (Dr. Harris and Dr. Zucker, “The …show more content…
One of the most impressive components of this space is an alcove that stands opposite of the grand entrance. This alcove, which is an arch opening, is decorated with red porphyry frieze and cornice. This arch opening is then situated between two Corinthian, marble columns of Phrygian purple. All of the other alcoves within this room have one of two types of marble columns. The semi-circular ones are made with Phrygian purple, and the rectangular ones with Numidian yellow. Each alcove has three decorative recess sets for statues, along with a small window. There are seven windows placed around the rotunda walls. The floor of this building is checked with the colors grey granite, red porphyry, Numidian yellow and Phrygian purple marble (Cartwright, "Pantheon”). Another important element within this structure, that was briefly mentioned earlier, was the oculus. There is no glass where the oculus resides. This means that when it rains, the floor actually gets wet. Also, since there is no glass, there is no glare or anything that would affect the direction of sunlight shining in. Thanks to this feature, the oculus works as a sun dial by allowing its visitors to see where the direction of the sun is in the sky (Dr. Harris and Dr. Zucker, “The