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The Pantheon in Rome, not to be confused with the Parthenon, which is in Greece, was constructed during the reign of the emperor Hadrian between 117 AD and 125 AD.
The timeline below highlights the period covered in this lesson.
The Pantheon’s technical innovation is what makes it arguably the most important example of Roman architecture. Built during the years 117 to 125 AD, the Pantheon was constructed out of concrete and stone. The front Corinthian-order columns are granite, and the dome is concrete.
117-125 AD
Concrete and stone
Pantheon means “all gods.” This structure was originally constructed in honor of the Roman god or gods. During the absorption of Greece into the empire, the majority of Roman gods were actually adopted into this new empire.
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The Roman god Jupiter is equivalent to the Greek god Zeus, and the Roman god Mars is equivalent to the Greek god Ares.The design of the Pantheon is an interesting combination that includes:
While the combination of these elements might seem like quite an architectural and design feat, these designs complement each other well. The rotunda allows the building to open skywards, while the Greek-style temple provides an aesthetically pleasing front view. In fact, from the front of the temple, the dome isn’t even visible.
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Below is a frontal view of the Pantheon where you can clearly see the two architectural styles together as well as the use of the Corinthian-style columns. Corinthian-style columns, the most ornate type of column, are used on the exterior and interior of the building.
Notice that these columns are not fluted. The Greeks often fluted their columns to hide the fact that they were made out of drums, and since these columns are made out of concrete, they didn't need any fluting; they could just be smooth.
Over the front entrance is an inscription dedicated by the emperor Hadrian to Marcus Agrippa, who was the man responsible for the construction of another Roman temple, the Maison Carrée in present-day France. The dome, however, is the most impressive and technologically innovative element of the Pantheon. Its construction would not have been possible without concrete.
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This next image is the front of the Pantheon.
You can see the inscription dedicated to Marcus Agrippa. This gives you an idea of scale and how the dome wouldn’t be visible from the very front of the temple.
The interior of the Pantheon used Corinthian columns, and there are also alcoves, or niches, embedded within the circular walls of the rotunda. Originally each would have held a separate sculpture and functioned as a shrine dedicated to an individual deity. Eventually, after the fall of Rome and the rise of Christianity, the Pantheon, like many classical temples, was converted into a Christian church.
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Here is a view of the interior of the Pantheon.
If you can imagine taking a rounded arch and spinning it around its vertical axis, you would end up with a dome. It’s a self-supporting structure, but depending on the materials used, a substantial amount of weight can be created. A dome the size of the Pantheon’s made from cut stone would not have been possible. For this reason, it was constructed out of lighter-weight and pourable concrete.
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This exterior view of the dome shows its supporting elements.
The rectangular pattern or recesses that you see are called coffers. They would have originally been painted blue to imitate the sky, which is really the whole point of having the dome. It also helped to create a sense of openness and depth in the ceiling. The center hole, or oculus, would have illuminated the interior of the Parthenon, blending with the sky motif of the ceiling, and provided a recognizable symbolism of the eye of Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of Zeus. The coffers and the oculus have a practical function, in addition to their aesthetic function. They make the interior space of the dome look aesthetically pleasing, but they also lighten the weight of the dome by reducing its volume. Rosettes would have originally been located inside the coffers, and were shaped like stars and gilded bronze, and so that would have given this sense of looking at the dome of the heavens.
If you look closely you can see a series of ridges or a series of solid circular rings that gradually creep inwards. These supported the weight of the dome and channeled it down through the exterior walls.
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Here is an interior view of the dome.
The above image is an 18th century painting by the artist Giovanni Panini, which provides a nice view of the alcoves mentioned previously, as well as the interior design of the dome.
Source: THIS TUTORIAL WAS AUTHORED BY IAN MCCONNELL FOR SOPHIA LEARNING. Please see our Terms of Use.
