The Pantheon and St. Peter’s Basilica are two historic monuments that helped influence history, arts, culture, and society in the Roman Empire. St. Peter’s Basilica was modeled after the Pantheon in the Renaissance Era. St. Peter’s yields insights into the importance of the works of renown architects such as Michelangelo, Donato Bramante, and Carlo Maderno. While many recognize Michelangelo, a famous Italian Renaissance artist, for his marvelous sculptures and paintings such as in the Sistine Chapel, his hard work and dedication in St. Peter’s should not go unnoticed. Donato Bramante, the first architect to be employed in the construction of St. Peter’s, skillfully merged the architecture of the Pantheon into the Basilica. He "envisioned a …show more content…
His ideas helped shape the artistic vision of the St. Peter’s. Due to the rebellions of the Protestant Reformation, he wanted the Basilica to encapture the idea of “unity.” Michelangelo altered the “interior into a continuum of space” and “the exterior into a cohesive body (Ackerman).” He also wanted the Basilica to have a simpler structure to allow in light to peer from many angles, similar to the Pantheon. In the Pantheon, the aspect of light was an important element in its construction, possibly a reminder to the people that the gods are present in all life and constantly watching. In St. Peter’s, the use of light is also used to depict God’s heavenly presence in the world. Michelangelo added walkways and windows along the sides of the lower dome. He adjusted Bramante’s Greek cross and created more space within to a large groups of people to gather. He “created huge semicircular walls echoing inside the dome to support the weight of the dome (Wu).” Before his death, Michelangelo also placed the dome on a elevated drum to show the immensity of the church. The elevation of the dome signified that St. Peter’s would not be a church to be overlooked easily, as it towered above the skyline. Michelangelo’s sensational changes to St. Peter’s would have not occurred without the construction of the Pantheon because the idea of the drum and the dome. The drum and dome at the Pantheon fit flawlessly in terms of mathematics, …show more content…
Peter’s. He assembled a plan similar to the Pantheon by using similar lighting techniques and designed the façade, to resemble the Pantheon in several ways such as having a dedication on the façade. For example, St. Peter’s façade reads: “In honor of the prince of Paul V Borghese, Pope, in the year 1612 and the seventh year of his pontificate.” It seems Maderno attempted to be consistent with Michelangelo's work in St. Peter’s. He “respected Michelangelo's plan and diverged from it so seamlessly that the three additional bays don’t feel grafted (Scotti).” Maderno added three bays to the East wing, which enlarged it by two-hundred feet and transformed the building from a central to a basilica plan. In the three bays, he included identical Corinthian columns, arches, and ceilings. However in the nave, the lighting became an issue: Maderno had to “lower windows” and “sloped the portico roof to allow light from the upper windows to enter (Scotti).” The problem Maderno encountered was that he needed to create a façade that would not entirely remove the focus from the dome. Using travertine stone, he created the façade and supported it with Corinthian columns and a main pedestal. The main pedestal contains the thirteen apostles, except for a Saint Peter statue who is placed on the stairs. The Pantheon relates to Maderno’s additions because Corinthian columns are used in it as well. While the Pantheon
Influence of Hagia Sophia on the Construction of Dome in Mosque Architecture Dr. Saqer Sqour1 Abstract—This paper discusses the influence of the revolutionary pendentive dome of the 6th century church Hagia Sophia on building domes. The paper aims to track the impact of the structure of the dome of Hagia Sophia on Muslim mosques. It, also aimed to compare the Hagia Sophia building with selected Ottoman mosques.
The Pantheon The Pantheon is one of the most well preserved buildings still standing from the Imperial era of Rome1. The Pantheon was a temple devoted to all of the Roman Gods. The origin of the Pantheon’s name is derived from the Greek word Pantheia2, which translates into, ‘All of the Gods’3. Although the architecture of the Pantheon is not exactly certain, Hadrian’s name has been recommended, meaning that Hadrian did not make the models, construction, details and supervised the building, etc.
One of his famous buildings is the Vatican Museum, which is the world’s biggest collection of antiquities. He also builds a great number of churches. In 1509, when Raphael was introduced to the Julius, he let Raphael began his masterpiece for the pope in the Vatican Museum. He starts to draw the frescoes in the three rooms of the Vatican Museum. It combines many different ideas like “the school of Athens” and “Disputa”.
In terms appearance and construction, the Pantheon is interesting. It consists of a circular building with a large front porch featuring Corinthian columns. There used to be steps leading up to the building, as with the Parthenon, but those have since been removed. The most striking feature of the Pantheon would be the unreinforced concrete dome.
Due to the significance of Saint Peter, the Necropolis found underneath Vatican City becomes critical to the Christian faith. Saint Peter was crucified in Nero’s Circus (“Circuses of Rome”). On this location, Constantine built the original Saint Peter’s Basilica with the purpose of providing both an extravagant monument to the first of Christ’s disciples and protection of the location of Saint Peter’s supposed burial (“History”). During construction, massive quantities of earth had to be moved to level the side of the hill upon which the Basilica would be erected; the Necropolis was actually filled in entirely with earth.
To sum up, why should you go visit the Pantheon? The dome of the Pantheon is the largest widest masonry dome in Europe (as tall as it is wide) and just barely trumps the dome of Saint
For example, both buildings are central plans with ambulatories. This plan creates temporal disruption because it makes the visitor stop under the dome upon entrance, and the buildings use the octagonal domes to connect the viewer to heaven. In Islam and Christianity, circles represent heaven and squares represent earth, so both buildings use the octagon as a symbolic bridge between heaven and earth to increase the spiritual symbolism of the buildings. Also, mosaics decorate the interiors of both Dome of the Rock and the Church of San Vitale. Both buildings use the mosaics to filter light to create a heavenly aura that makes the viewer feel as though they have left the physical realm and are in the spiritual realm.
The Dome’s structure and ornamentation are rooted in the Byzantine architectural tradition, yet its construction in
"In 1418 the town fathers of Florence finally addressed a monumental problem they’d been ignoring for decades: the enormous hole in the roof of their cathedral. " This sets the stage for Brunelleschi to become a hero and master artisan. Brunelleschi had spent his life learning, as an apprentice goldsmith, he had learned and perfected techniques that were well ahead of the training he was given. He studied other areas of art as well, "Brunelleschi’s life seemed to have been one long apprenticeship for building the dome of unequaled beauty, usefulness, honor, and power that Florence yearned for." He, along with other actual architects applied to be the one to put a dome on the cathedral, and eventually one out.
Basilicas were originally Roman public buildings used for administrative and judicial purposes, but they were adapted for use as Christian churches because of their large, open spaces and central aisles. Early Christian basilicas often had features such as an apse (a semicircular recess at the end of the church), a nave (the central aisle of the church), and a transept (a cross-shaped aisle that intersects the nave) (Farber, n.d.). Christian art and architecture were unique in many ways despite these influences. For example, Christian iconography emphasizes depicting religious narratives and figures, such as Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints. In contrast, Roman art often celebrated secular and political themes, such as emperors and military conquests (Buis, n.d.).
Within the pantheon almost all lines draw the viewers eyes to the Oculus. Another key element of the pantheon aside from the Oculus are the coffers, in addition to providing weight reduction within the dome the concentric rings created by the coffers radiate out from the Oculus carrying the ring down to meet the wall mimicking the Oculus (see fig. 1). Also present within the coffers are vertical line that converge at the Oculus. Both elements that bring attention to the focal point of the building. This trend continues onto the walls where the rectangular window like recesses in the walls are adorned with a pediment pointing upwards, likewise on the floor where rounded pillars are again capped with a pediment.
Michelangelo famously carved many sculptures throughout his lifetime. One of his most famous pieces is the Rome Pietà. The French cardinal Jean de Bilhères Lagraulas commissioned Michelangelo to carve a memorial piece for his own burial in 1497 (Wallace, 243). The Pietà is currently on display in St. Peter’s Basilica on a pedestal as an altarpiece. William Wallace’s article “Michelangelo’s Rome Pietà: Altarpiece or Grave Memorial?” discusses whether the Pietà should be viewed as an elevated altarpiece or at eye level as a memorial through historical context and the intention of how the work was made to be viewed by an audience.
The Pantheon and Brunelleschi 's Dome in Florence both share a common idea of the dome in ancient history. They were built and different times, the Pantheon and Brunelleschi 's Dome differ in both design and architecture. This paper is going to analyze the Pantheon in Rome and Brunelleschi 's Dome in terms of their constructional and design techniques, and their historical circumstances of the construction of them both. The Pantheon is one of the remaining and properly maintained buildings of the first century.
The basic plan for the basilica is a “Greek Cross plan.” There are five major domes in the church: one
The style of the building and the purpose it is built give a brief and thoughtful storybook about the culture of the architect as art, generally, and architecture, particularly, is a language itself. Thus, buildings narrate the stories of the people among the history and tell their traditions and habits to the next generation through its design, inscriptions, and details. In this essay, I will discuss how both the style and function of the Greek Parthenon and the Roman Pantheon served as typical examples of their cultures in Athens and ancient Rome. In addition to the similarities and differences between these two cultures through the two buildings. Both the Greek and the Roman architecture inspired the cultures and architects until these days due to the diverse meaning they carry and symbolize in astonishing ways through the different orders, columns, roofs, friezes, and domes.