Lecture 11

Hadrianic Architecture: The Pantheon, etc.

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The Pantheon

Aerial view of model of Ancient Rome showing Pantheon. Note the colonnaded forecour

Diagram of section showing proportions of the dome (diameter = height); note also the gradually thinning of the concrete of the dome as it rises to the oculus

Note the "ghost" pediment on the transitional block - almost certainly the result of a change of the design late in the construction process to accommodate columns with 40' shafts rather than the 50' monoliths originally intended.

Plan, section and diagram of structural arches of roman brick in the concrete walls of the Pantheon

View of coffered dome showing the optical effects of the coffering

Portico with the earlier inscription re-used by Hadrian (M. AGRIPPA L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT = Marcus Agrippa, son of lucius, consul three times, built [this building])

Main entrance with coffered barrel vault

View of oculus and coffering of dome

Aedicular niche

Detail of coffering showing the displacement upwards of the "layers" of the coffer to achieve perspectival effects

Eighteenth-century painting by G.P. Panini showing the scale of the interior and the effect of the disc of light cast from the oculus

View of main apse. Note that the flanking Corinthian columns come forward from wall plane (unlike the other apses). The use of ressauts (entablature blocks coming forward from the wall) above them gives them great emphasis.