Lecture 10: Hadrianic Architecture: The Pantheon, etc.
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The Pantheon
Aerial view of model
of Ancient Rome showing Pantheon. Note the colonnaded forecourt
Comparison of the plans of the Pantheon of Hadrian with its predecessor built by Agrippa,
showing the complete transformation of the building and its reorientation. Note that
despite this transformation Hadrian re-used the earlier inscription (M. AGRIPPA L. F. COS.
TERTIUM FECIT = Marcus Agrippa, son of lucius, consul three times, built [this building])
on his building.
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
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
inscription from earlier building
Main entrance with coffered
barrel vault
View of oculus and coffering of
dome
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.
Interior view
towards main apse
Other Hadrianic Buildings
Gate of Hadrian, Athens,
inscribed on one side "Here begins the city of Pericles" and on the other
"Here begins the city of Hadrian"
Temple of Olympian Zeus,
Athens. Platform and plan late sixth century BC, begun again adopting the Corinthian order
in 174 BC by Antiochos IV of Syria using the Roman architect Cossutius, finished by the
Roman emperor Hadrian c.130 AD.
Temple of Venus and
Rome, view of remains and reconstruction
Remains of temple of Venus and Rome with Arch of Titus in the background to the left. Note
that the coffered apse does not date from the original Hadrianic building.
Plan of the
temple of Venus and Rome. Note the unusual form of the double cella
Reconstruction
of the Mausoleum of Augustus
Aerial photograph of
remains of Mausoleum of Augustus
Emperor Augustus
Comparison of the Mausolea of Augustus (top) and Hadrian (below)
Mausoleum of Hadrian (as converted into the Castel Sant'Angelo) and Aelian Bridge
View of
Hadrian's mausoleum on the model of ancient Rome