The Pantheon and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome

The Pantheon and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome are				did not and could not alter either the plan or general
acknowledged to be wonderful architectural pieces				arrangement of his predecessors to any material
which performed the great religious purpose. The time				extent, he determined at once to restrict the church to
and effort that went into the building process of those				the form of a Greek cross, as proposed by Peruzzi
architectural monuments display the cultural emphasis				and Raphael, and he left everywhere the impress of
on quality and perfectionism. Additionally the placement				his giant hand upon it. It is to him that we owe certainly
of the buildings in a prominent location in central Rome				the form of the dome, and probably the ordinance of
outlines the importance given to the worship and				the whole of the exterior (Wittmann 111). The only part
honoring of God.				of his design which he left unfinished was the eastern
The Pantheon is the best-preserved of Rome's				portico.
ancient temples and the only one which is still used as				During the pontificate of Paul V. it was suggested that
a place of worship. The word "Pantheon" is Greek				the building should be restored to the form of a Latin
meaning to honor all gods (Pinto 44). The Pantheon				cross, as originally suggested by Bramante. This idea
was originally completed or dedicated, according to its				was finally carried into effect by Carlo Maderno , a
inscription, in 27 B.C., by Augustus' friend, general,				very second-class architect, in the beginning of the
colleague, and son-in-law, Agrippa, victor over Antony				seventeenth century, who designed the entrance
and Cleopatra at Actium (Pinto 46). Surrounded by the				(Gorman 155). Thus, construction of the basilica was
hum of modern Roman life, its time-blackened mass,				completed in 1615.
with the forest of dark columns which forms its portico				Thus, we can see that many architects worked on
confronts the visitor at unexpected moments with a				construction of St. Peter's Basilica proposing their own
sudden vision of immemorial age. The narrow streets				design and constantly changing the structure of the
leading to it seem to deflect the eye rather than to				building. Unlike St. Peter's Basilica, the Pantheon has
attract it toward the great building lost in their labyrinth.				been designed under supervision of Emperor Hadrian
The temple was dedicated especially to Mars and				who rebuilt the old building using the main elements of
Venus, the patrons of the Julian family, to which				the plan of the Pantheon developed by Agrippa.
Caesar and Augustus belonged; statues of these				The Pantheon was innovative for its time. It is the first
deities were set among those in the niches of the				temple to combine concrete construction with the
interior. The statue of Venus in this temple, according				more conservative and decorative use demonstrated
to Pliny, wore in her ears the cut halves of one of two				by the Greeks (Pinto 133). This structure is
famous pearls which had belonged to Cleopatra; the				proportioned like a circle within a square. It's a
queen had dissolved and drunk the other, says the				hemispherical dome that sits upon a cylindrical drum.
author, to win a wager from Antony (Dutemple 55).				One can also recognize the influence of the Greeks in
The Pantheon was burned twice; after the second fire,				the artist's outer and inner use of great columns. The
about A.D. 110, it was completely rebuilt by Hadrian in				Romans did admire and try to imitate the Greeks.
A.D. 124, who, scrupulous about claiming for himself a				Inside, the Pantheon contains a single vast space,
structure which he had merely rebuilt, had the original				heavily detailed walls and ceiling, and beautiful marble
inscription bearing the names of Agrippa and his father				flooring. In spite of this outstanding beauty, the most
copied on the new building (Pinto 77).				notable feature is the illumination of the building by the
Septimius Severus made repairs in the third century,				open oculus at the top of the dome. While uncovered
but on the whole it is Hadrian's brick-faced concrete				in the past and today closed with a plate of glass, this
structure which stands today, with its forest of grey				opening in the roof is precisely the trait that supplies
and red granite columns, forty-six feet high,				the Pantheon with its uniqueness and character.
surmounted by Corinthian capitals of time-grayed				The Pantheon reveals not only Roman genius for
marble (Gorman 121). Bronze tiles once covered the				construction, in roofing this 140-foot circle so simply
outside of its dome and a bronze cornice still surrounds				with one great dome, but also Roman skill in treating a
the circular opening in its centre. Walls and dome stand				tremendous interior in such a way as to emphasize
as in imperial days, but the marble facings of the				both its vastness and its unity. Approached by a deep
interior are gone, and of the ancient glitter of bronze				porch, once covered with a bronze vaulted ceiling
only the cornice around the opening in the dome and				supported on great bronze girders and trusses, the
the bronze-covered doors of the vestibule remain				entrance doorway, twenty feet wide and forty high,
(Gorman 143). In 663 the Byzantine emperor Constans				with its original bronze doors and transom-screen,
II carried away the tiles from the dome, and in the				leads the visitor at once into the great enclosed space.
seventeenth century the bronze roof trusses of the				The thick walls required to support the thrust of the
portico were melted down and recast (Pinto 165).				dome are lightened by four great niches, one
The pagan temple was already a Christian church				containing the doorway, the others altars to the major
when its shining tiles were removed. Phocas gave the				deities, and each separated from the central area by a
temple to the church; Boniface was the pope who				screen of columns. Smaller shrines decorate the walls
received it. In 609 it had been dedicated to Mary and				between, and all the wall surface up to the entablature
All Saints or Martyrs under the name of Sancta Maria				which runs over the columns is sheathed in rich
and Martyres. The Pantheon has achieved an added				marbles laid in beautiful decorative geometric shapes.
fame as the burial place for artists, including Raphael,				Above the entablature runs a frieze once decorated
and for the kings and queens of United Italy.				with a continuous row of small pilasters, instead of the
St. Peter's Basilica is one of the holiest places and one				awkward Renaissance false windows and panels
of the most ancient Christian monuments. Similar to the				which now occupy the area. Above this the perfect
Pantheon that was first completed by Agrippa and				hemisphere of the dome sweeps upward, its curve
then rebuilt by Hadrian, St. Peter's Basilica was first built				emphasized by deep coffers, to a central oculus or
in 324 by Emperor Constantine and then rebuilt in 1506.				opening thirty feet in diameter that lights the whole
Emperor Constantine recognized Christianity as the				(Dutemple 70).
official religion and chose the place for basilica where				The magnificent quality of the resultant simple vertical
the Circus of Nero was located. The Circus of Nero				light, which seems to bathe the whole interior so evenly
was the site of martyrdoms of Christians (Letarouilly				and yet to emphasize so forcefully the shadowed
33). It is believed that St. Peter , one of the apostles of				recesses of the shrines and the niches, is something
Jesus Christ, was crucified in this spot (the Circus of				no photograph or drawing can reproduce. The whole
Nero). It is considered that the tomb of Peter is located				shows how brilliantly the Roman architects conceived
beneath altar in the basilica.				and realized that quality which we moderns call space.
The old basilica of St. Peter's, built in haste, in a bad				It is this quality of spaciousness, this sense of
age, was fast falling to decay; and, notwithstanding				enormous areas and great heights, well lighted and
that it was larger than any Medieval cathedral, it still				nevertheless closed in from the weather and the
was felt to be unworthy of being the principal church				surroundings, which is perhaps the most unique of all
of Europe. In consequence of this, Pope Nicholas V.				Roman architectural qualities. It is this which none of
commenced a new building, from the designs of				the previous architectures had ever approached or
Rosselino , on such a scale as would -- had it been				perhaps even dreamed of; and it is this quality which
completed -- have made it the greatest and most				set all design on a new search for interior architectural
splendid cathedral of Europe (Letarouilly 76). His				beauty.
designs have not been preserved, and the only part				The Pantheon had impact upon design of St. Peter's
which was executed was the western tribune, which				Basilica in Rome. Both buildings are the examples of
occupied the same place as the present one, but was				arched construction (structures in which arches and
only raised a few feet out of the ground when the				vaults play pre-eminent parts). In arched construction
Pope died in 1454 (Letarouilly 78).				there is much greater freedom of mass design;
There the matter seems to have rested for more				buildings may have some parts much higher than
than half a century, and no one seems to have				others, and domes and barrel roofs may cap the
thought of carrying out the conception of Nicholas, till				whole (Gorman 78). Wider and higher interiors, of great
the project was revived by Pope Julius II in 1506.				variety of shape, may develop highly complex plans, in
Bramante , who was then in the plenitude of his				which support and buttress and wide span all combine
practice and the zenith of his fame, was instructed to				to give impressions of tremendous and varied interior
prepare the designs (Wittmann 39).				spaces, as in the Pantheon and St. Peter's Basilica.
The foundation-stone of this great church was laid in				Lines of arched frame establish rows of posts or
the year 1506, and the works were carried on with the				columns. Arched construction is characterized by
greatest activity during the following seven or eight				buttresses which are often quite deep, to take arch
years. On the death of Pope Julius II., in 1513, and that				thrusts; walls which are minimized, both in length; large
of his architect in the following year, the celebrated				openings; enormous windows and accent on verticality
Raphael was appointed to succeed him. Although that				(Gorman 88). The arched frame determines all major
great painter was an accomplished architect, in the				architectural lines. Buttresses and flying buttresses
sense in which that term was then becoming				accent the structural pattern.
understood, the task he was now appointed to was				The architects of the Renaissance that designed St.
as little suited to his taste as to his abilities. So great				Peter's Basilica sought for a dome that was more like
had been the haste of the late Pope, and so				the dome of the Pantheon. The Pantheon dome is
inconsiderate the zeal of his architect, that, though the				merely a hemispherical vault, built in rings of stone or
great piers which were to support the dome had only				brick, with the joints between the rings radiating from
been carried to such a height as to enable the arches				the center, and the joints of each ring also necessarily
to be turned which were to join them, they already				radiating as well (Dutemple 81). Thus, the completion of
showed signs of weakness, and it was evident they				each ring makes a self-supporting unit, because, owing
must either be rebuilt from the basement, or very				to the wedge shape of the elements of which it is
considerably reinforced, if ever a dome was to be				combined, no one of them can collapse inward; it is this
placed oil them (Wittmann 99). While men were				quality which enabled the Romans to build domes with
disputing what was best to be done, Raphael died, and				its great "eye" or circular opening in the center. For the
Baldassare Peruzzi was appointed to succeed him as				architects of St. Peter's Basilica it was necessary at
architect.				the same time to have a high dome to give external
Peruzzi, fearing that the work would never be				effect because of the length of their churches.
completed on the scale originally designed, determined				Consequently a dome of two or even three shells
at once to abandon the nave of Bramante, and				was developed, in which the interior dome was
reduced the original design of building established by				proportioned with sole reference to interior effect, and
Bramante. He reduced the building to a square				the exterior dome with sole reference to exterior
enclosing a Greek cross; designed the angles filled in				effect (Moffett 143). Between these two shells there
with square sacristies, which were to be each				was sometimes a third, built to carry the weight of the
surmounted by a dome of about one-third the				"lantern," the small, many-windowed cupola which took
diameter of the great one, being in fact the				the place of the "eye" of the Roman dome. Such
arrangement then and subsequently so universal in the				domes may be seen not only in St. Peter's in Rome,
Russian churches (Gorman 76). Before much was,				but, also, in St. Paul's in London, in the Panthéon and
done, however, he died, in 1536, and was succeeded				Les Invalides in Paris, and in many American state
by the celebrated Antonio Sangallo .				capitols.
All Sangallo's time, and all the funds he could command,				The architecture that went into the Pantheon and St.
were employed in strengthening the piers of the great				Peter's Basilica is truly breathtaking. Architecturally the
dome, and in remedying the defects in construction				Pantheon and St. Peter's Basilica have held up
introduced by his predecessors. His design, besides,				remarkably well and today are frequently visited by
does not seem to have met with much favour among				tourists. The Pantheon and St. Peter's Basilica are
his contemporaries, and with the greatest opposition				indeed the outstanding pieces of architecture and have
from Michael Angelo , whose criticism was that it was				withstood the tests of time. While societies' meaning
broken into too many parts, and with an infinity of				for the Pantheon has changed, it continues to
columns would convey the idea of a Gothic building				exemplify the values of the Roman Empire. The
rather than of an antique or Classical one (Letarouilly				meaning of St. Peter's Basilica has not changed over
100).				centuries. It represents the grandiosity of the Church
At Sangallo's death, in 1546, the control of the works				and the continuation of Christian traditions.
fell into the hands of Michael Angelo; and although he

Flash It

The Pantheon and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome

Articles