33 x 16 m
(108 x 52 feet) with “Sixteen monolithic columns in Egyptian granite gray and
pink” 13 m (43 feet) high
The
Egyptian origin of these huge columns would immediately be recognized in
antiquity by the inhabitants of the Roman Empire, unlike now, accustomed as we
are to so many different types of materials
Marble of
this type does not exist in Italy or in Europe and the mere fact of having been
able to bring the columns to Rome on barges all the way from Egyptian quarries
that are even distant from the Nile, was a statement and a display of enormous
power on the part of the Roman government
The columns
are surmounted by a pediment on which there was a bronze relief
representing an enormous crowned eagle, the eagle of the apotheosis of
Romulus, the true symbol of Rome
The big
inscription reads: Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius did this during his third
consulship
The small
inscription reads: Emperor Caesar Septimius Severus and Emperor Caesar Marcus
Aurelius Antoninus restored with great care the Pantheon ruined by ancientness
The porch (pronaos)
was preceded by a staircase which has recently been found and buried again. The
illusion of being in front of a classic Greek style temple was also due to the
fact that the dome could not be seen from the large square
surrounded by a portico in front of the Pantheon
Therefore
Hadrian had obviously wanted to surprise those who would enter the building and
find themselves surrounded by a spherical and modern interior
The doors
were restored at the time of Pius IV Medici (1559/65) but the structure is most
likely the original, perhaps that of Augustus, kept as a sort of relic in the
reconstruction of Hadrian
They are
huge: 7.53 x 4.45 m (24.7 x 14.6 feet)
On the
sides of the doors there are two niches where there were maybe statues of
Augustus and Agrippa
BRICK WALLS
They have
the incredible thickness of 6.2 m (20.4 feet) and are marked by niches and
arches to lighten the structure
Internal
diameter of 43.30 m (142.06 feet) of height from the floor to the top
The perfect
proportions give the impression of walking into a huge ball
It was
raised using a single extraordinary wooden hemisphere centering filled with a
jet of conglomerate containing volcanic pumice to lighten it up
The Romans
invented concrete the use of which disappeared after the fall of the Roman
Empire. It was rediscovered only a thousand years later and it began to be used
extensively, as the Romans did, only from the end of the eighteenth century
onward
This dome
is one of the most extraordinary examples in the world of the capacity of human
ingenuity
The hole
(oculus) has a diameter of about 9 m (29.52 feet) and is trimmed with bronze
It is still
the dome with the largest diameter in Italy:
The dome of
the Basilica of St. Peter, albeit higher, has a diameter of 42.52 m (139.50
feet), the dome of Florence Cathedral has a real diameter of 41.47 m (136.05
feet), although the major diagonal of the octagon is 44.97 m (147.53)
Outside
Italy, the Capitol Dome in Washington has a diameter of 29.26 m (96 feet) and
the Cathedral of St. Paul's in London has a diameter of 31 m (102.10 feet)
A greater
dome without internal supports was only built in 1881 in England as part of the
Devonshire Royal Hospital building: 44.20 m (145.01 feet)
Now the
largest dome in the world is that of the Cowboys Stadium finished in 2009 and
located in Arlington, Texas with a diameter of 275 m (902 feet)
The
Pantheon is oriented with the façade to the north and it was built in such a
way that, on every April 21st, the birthday of Rome, at noon, the
light rays passing through the hole in the dome would strike precisely on the
big doors
“It is
significant that the Pantheon is located exactly opposite the Mausoleum of
Augustus, 500 steps (740 meters - 2,428 feet) away and maybe it used to be
visually connected to the Mausoleum itself with a path that would open the view
of the two obelisks at the sides. Now this correspondence, if it really
existed, must have dated back to the Augustan system, because in the second
century other buildings arose obstructing the view. So the world of cosmic
references involved the whole system consisting of Pantheon, Mausoleum, Sundial
and Ara Pacis: if we accept the identity of the site of the Pantheon and the
Palus Caprae, the place of the apotheosis of Romulus, there is a clear
correspondence between the apotheosis of the founder of Rome and that of
Augustus” (Francesca de Caprariis and Fausto Zevi)
FOURTEEN MONOLITHIC
FLUTED COLUMNS 8.9 m (29 feet) high in ancient yellow marble from Tunisia and
pavonazzetto marble from Turkey
Rebuilt in
1747 by Paolo Posi (1708/76) for Benedict XIV
Lambertini (1740/58)
A
restoration in 1930 has revived, over the last niche on the right, the original
decoration with polychrome marble derived from Renaissance drawings
The FLOOR also made of polychrome marble,
including porphyry from Egypt, is largely original
Aediculae
and Chapels
1st
AEDICULA ON THE RIGHT
Altarpiece “Madonna
of the Girdle and St Nicholas of Bari” 1686 by an anonymous
seventeenth-century artist
1ST
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
At the
center:
“Annunciation” maybe by Melozzo degli Ambrosi
aka Melozzo da Forlì (1438/94)
On the sides:
On the left
“Ss. Lorenzo and Agnes” by Clemente Maioli
(1634/73) from Ferrara, a painter influenced by Pietro da Cortona and close to
the style of Giovanni Francesco Romanelli
On the
sides there are also “Four marble busts of prelates” and “Two angels in marble”
1696 of Bernini school
2nd
AEDICULA ON THE RIGHT
“The
execution of the work (...) did not correspond precisely to the design of
Manfredi, who had planned the placement of an altar of porphyry, never made,
and a richer decoration of the frame of the large bronze plaque. The project,
which effectively makes use of the most essential elements of the classical
language, is well weighted according to the monumentality and the prestige of
the architectural context” (Raffaella Catini - Dizionario Biografico degli
Italiani Treccani)
The golden
lamp hanging in front of the tomb is a symbolic reminder of Victor Emmanuel III
who died in exile in Alexandria, Egypt in 1947
3rd
AEDICULA ON THE RIGHT
On the
right canvas “Consecration of the Pantheon” 1750
4th
AEDICULA ON THE RIGHT
Rearranged
at the beginning of the eighteenth century by Alessandro
Specchi (1668/1729)
Copy of the
Roman-Byzantine “Madonna and Child” of the seventh century coated in
silver that had been placed on the altar during the consecration of the
Pantheon to the Virgin Mary in the year 609. It replaced the original in the
early twentieth century
During the
refurbishment of Alessandro Specchi the relics of the saints Rasio and
Anastasio were found and were put in a medieval bronze box which is shown to
the faithful during the most important celebrations
Clement XI
Albani (1700/21), who had wanted to carry out the work, commissioned then the
statues of the two saints located in the aediculae to the right and to the left
of the altar
“Wooden
Choir” 1840 by Luigi Poletti (1792/1869)
