The Meaning of the Pantheon - Essay Example

THE MEANING OF THE PANTHEON The Pantheon is one of the most well-known monuments all over the world and it is one of the best preserved Ancient monuments. It is a symbol of the Roman Empire and it has influenced a great number of architectural works throughout history. Its importance lies, not only in its architectural improvements and innovations, but also in its symbolical meaning. This symbolism can be found in the geometry applied to the constructive elements or in the philosophy and religion applied to the interior spaces. It was built in Rome at the beginning of the Roman Empire and it was originally dedicated to all the gods. As it is written in the portico's frieze ('Made by Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, in his third consulship'), it was originally built by Agrippa during his third consulship, around 27 B.C. It was thought that this inscription referred to the present temple, but Agrippa's temple was destroyed and then restored several times by Domitian and Trajan. It was fully reconstructed by Hadrian around 125 A.D., but he preserved Agrippa's inscription. This new Pantheon has been attributed to the architect Apollodorus of Damascus, one of the most famous architects of the Ancient world. The Greek influences we can appreciate in the portico (very similar to the pronaos of the Greek temples) are due to the great admiration Hadrian felt for Greek culture. After the portico, we find a big circular cella or rotunda, covered with a semispherical dome with an oculus opened to the sky. The portico and the rotunda are linked by a polygonal structure. The dome rests on a cylindrical drum and it is decorated with coffers, which were designed to reduce the weight of the dome; it is the world's largest concrete dome. The walls of the temple have the same height as the radius of the dome and the total height is equal to the diameter, so a perfect imaginary sphere can be inscribed in the interior of the Pantheon. The structure of the Pantheon is very different from the conventional structure of the roman temples, which was very influenced by the preceding Etruscan and Greek models, so when it was built it represented an important innovation. Although we can find examples of domes resting in a cylindrical drum in some previous buildings, like the thermal baths of Agrippa or Caracalla, the dome of the Pantheon is the first one built with such big dimensions. The materials used in the Pantheon were also very innovative; the concrete applied to the construction of the dome and the marble, used in the floor, which was a symbol of magnificence and splendor. Agrippa's temple was smaller than the present temple and it was facing to the south (the actual Pantheon is facing to the north). It seems that the structure was very similar to the actual temple, and it was based in the architectural principles of Vitruvius. In the pronaos, now decorated with Corinthian columns, were erected the statues of Augusto and Agrippa as the promoters of the temple, so what people saw at first sight were the figures of the Emperors, as the developers of this magnificent architectural work. The geometry of the Pantheon has a deep symbolic meaning. According to the plane geometry and Vitruvius' ideas, the squared Greek portico represents the Earth and the circular rotunda the Heaven. The rotunda and the dome are linked by an octagon, by which the squaring of the circle is achieved; this will mean the indestructible union between matter and spirit. In the floor we can also find geometrical drawings of circles inscribed inside squares. Furthermore, the lower part of the drum's wall is drilled with niches, suggesting a continuity in the unlimited space. The columns that support these niches have been constructed as if they were not supporting the dome, so it seems to be floating in the air. The dome represents the vault of heaven and each of the five levels of coffers represents the five concentric spheres of the Ancient planetary system. The central oculus, which illuminates the interior of the temple, symbolizes the sun during the day and the moon during the night. It moves in circles all around the temple, following the natural movement of the sun and the moon. The importance of this oculus is enormous; it was an observatory of the cosmos, both real and symbolical. With its orientation to the north, it enabled the observation of the movements of the celestial bodies and was used as a sundial, but it also represented the symbolical cosmos (the planetary system). The dome represents the celestial sphere, and this oculus is, as well, a hole that permits to see the real sky, the heaven. The oculus also provides some interesting light effects; the interior is fully illuminated by the sun during the day, while the exterior temple remains in shadows, creating an interested and dramatic scenography of the Emperor's figures that were placed in the portico. It enhances the figures of the Emperors, so it had some propagandistic purpose. Agrippa's temple was originally dedicated to the protectors of gens Iulia (the members of the Emperor's family): Mars, Venus and a deified Julius Caesar. In fact, it was erected in the Campus Martius, an area dedicated to the worship of Mars or consecrated to Mars, and it was a symbol of the religious tolerance in the Empire. It is also said that the Pantheon was erected in the place where Romulus ascended to Heaven, according to the legend. Romulus, as one of the original founders of Rome, was also considered the founder of the Roman Senate, so this place has a great legendary importance. After the reconstruction of Emperor Hadrian, the Pantheon was consecrated to the seven celestial gods of the Roman mythology: the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Each of the seven apses in the rotunda was dedicated to one of these gods. The imaginary sphere that fills the interior space will represent the celestial sphere from which the gods observe men's actions. It is said that the Pantheon has cosmic proportions because it tries to reproduce the cosmos in its dimensions, on the basis of Anaximander's concept of the gnomon and the celestial sphere. According to Anaximander, the gnomon is the germ from which the cosmos is generated, the germ that separated from the indefinite apeiron to create the Earth. From the Earth appeared all the stars, the sun and the moon, which moved in circles around the Earth. This geocentric conception of the world is represented in the Pantheon, and the oculus with its constantly changing light will prove the stationery of the Earth and the cycling movement of the planets. Today, we know that this conception is wrong, but for the people in the Roman Empire it would have been a very graphic representation of the cosmos' structure, as it was conceive in those days. In the oculus we can also venture the possibility of the influence of Oriental worships, in which the Sun is the major deity, or one of the most important ones. From a political point of view, the structure is also very representative; it is the abode of gods in the Earth, in which the Emperor tries to centralize the multiple worships of the Roman religion. The Pantheon is the synthesis of Earth and Heaven, respectively represented in the circular plan and the semispherical dome. It was the symbol of the union between men and gods, but also between people and the Emperor, which was considered as a deity. During the Roman Empire, the Emperor held the religious power and he was frequently venerated as a living deity. The Pantheon was a symbol of the Emperor's power and it was the place in which he administered justice. Hadrian, in particular, was very keen on promulgating laws in the central space of the Pantheon, illuminated by the light of the oculus. Another interpretation says that the perfect sphere of the rotunda represents the Aristotelian cosmological conception of the world. According to Aristotle, the cosmos is divided in two different regions: the sub-moon world and the supra-moon world. The sub-moon world is the terrestrial world, the one in which we live. In this region, all bodies are made of earth, water, air and fire. These elements have different natures and different positions in the cosmos. Earth is the heaviest element, so its place is always near the centre of the Earth, and fire is the lightest one, so it tends to ascend. All these bodies have characteristic natural movements, which are rectilinear (ascending, in the case of air and fire, or descending, in the case of water and earth), as well as finite. In the sub-moon region, bodies are constantly and unpredictably changing. In the other group, the supra-moon world, are the celestial or heavenly bodies, which are made of ether, an infinite material (also known as the fifth essence). These heavenly bodies move in circles and their shape is spherical because of this reason. The planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn), the stars (including the sun) and the moon are made of ether so they are perfect celestial bodies, and they move around the Earth (which he considered the centre of the cosmos) in circular orbits. Their movement is always constant and precise, so this region is always in order, in equilibrium. In the Pantheon, the union between the sub-moon world and the supra-moon world is very well represented. The octagonal rotunda will be the terrestrial world, where the Emperor was. The dome will represent the supra-moon world, where the gods were; both worlds are connected by the cylindrical drum and inscribed inside the imaginary sphere It is said that the Pantheon was not a temple for a concrete religious worship, but a temple to represent the religion itself, the relationship between men and deity, visible and invisible, matter and spirit. The symbolism of the Pantheon has been enormously influential in posterior buildings, such as the Christian basilicas and cathedrals, in which the dome has been used to represent the deity, and also during the Renaissance, when the artists were inspired by the Ancient classicism. Today the Pantheon is a basilica and it has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Read More