Recent explorations have shown that in front of the Pantheon was a
large enclosure surrounded by a covered arcade, somewhat after the
manner of the colonnade at S. Peter's, and entered by an arch of
triumph. Remains of this arch exist under the houses in front of the
Pantheon, which are to be pulled down.
[Illustration]
When Agrippa dedicated the Pantheon as a temple, it was consecrated to
Jupiter the Avenger. "Some of the finest works that the world has ever
beheld ... the roofing of the Pantheon of Jupiter Ultor that was built
by Agrippa" (Pliny, "N. H." xxxvi. 24). The repairs commenced by
Septimius Severus and Caracalla were completed by Alexander Severus,
who built his baths close by. We call attention to a coin of this
emperor, which represents the temple and its enclosure on the reverse;
on the obverse is the emperor's portrait, and the legend IMP . C . M .
AVR . SEV . ALEXANDER . AUG. On the coin the columns are placed close
on either flank, and two are omitted, to show the seated statue of
Jupiter in the temple, which statue is now in the Hall of Busts in the
Vatican Museum, and is a copy of the celebrated Jupiter of Phidias.
The fact that the Pantheon was originally built as a sudatorium has
been proved to a certainty by the excavations made in the sudatorium
of the Baths of Caracalla. There we have, as it were, the Pantheon in
ruins. It is slightly smaller, the diameter being 125 feet--17 less
than the Pantheon. Opposite to the entrance is an apse, and on each
side there are three recesses, as at the Pantheon, which were used as
caldaria, but are now, in the Pantheon, chapels of the saints.
[Illustration: THE PANTHEON.
(_From a Coin._)]
The portico is 110 feet long, and 44 feet deep. Sixteen Corinthian
columns, 46½ feet high and 5 feet in diameter, support the roof. The
Pantheon was converted into a church by Boniface IV. in 609, by
permission of the Emperor Phocas, and it was dedicated to the martyrs
on November 1st (All Saints' Day), 830. The doors and grating above,
of ancient bronze, with the rim round the circular opening in the
vault of the interior, are all that is left of the ancient metal work.
The interior is 142 feet in diameter, and 143 feet high, and is
lighted by an open space of 28 feet in diameter. It is the
burial-place of Raphael and of Victor Emanuel II.--_right of high
altar_.
Pliny says ("Nat. Hist." xxxvi. 4): "The Pantheon of Agrippa has been
decorated by Diogenes of Athens, and the caryatides by him, which form
the columns of that temple, are looked upon as masterpieces of
excellence. The same, too, with the statues that are placed upon the
roof, though, in consequence of the height, they have not had an
opportunity of being so well appreciated." "The capitals, too, of the
pillars which were placed by M. Agrippa in the Pantheon, were made of
Syracusan metal" (_ibid._, xxxiv. 7). Marcellinus (xvi. x. 14) says:
"The Pantheon, with its vast extent, its imposing height, and the
solid magnificence of its arches, and the lofty niches rising one
above the other like stairs, is adorned with the images of former
emperors."
"It is as difficult to reconcile the statements of different authors
respecting the original idea of Agrippa, as it is hazardous to attempt
to prove the successive metamorphoses which the plan sketched by the
artist has undergone. This much, however, is certain, that with
respect to the modern transformation of the whole, the consequences
have been most melancholy and injurious. The combination of the
circular edifice with the rectilinear masses of the vestibule,
notwithstanding all the pains bestowed, and the endless expenditure
of the most costly materials, has been unsuccessful; and the original
design of the Roman architect has lost much of its significance, or,
at all events, of its phrenological expression, by being united with
ordinary Grecian forms of architecture, which in this place lose great
part of their value. No one previously unacquainted with the edifice
could form an idea, from the aspect of the portico, of that wondrous
structure behind, which must ever be considered as one of the noblest
triumphs of the human mind over matter in connection with the law of
gravity.
"Conflagrations, earthquakes, sacrilegious human hands, and all the
injuries of time, have striven together in vain for the destruction of
this unique structure. It has come off victorious in every trial; and
even now, when it has not only been stripped of its noblest
decorations, but, what is still worse, been decked out with idle and
unsuitable ornaments, it still stands in all its pristine glory and
beauty.
"In order to obtain a notion of the size and solid excellence of the
work, it will be well first to make the circuit of the entire edifice.
We shall thus have an opportunity of admiring the fine distribution of
the different masses. After the first circular wall or belt, which
rests upon a base of travertine, has attained a height of nearly forty
feet, it is finished off with a simple cornice, serving as a solid
foundation for the second belt. As a preservative against sinking,
this is, moreover, provided with a series of larger and smaller
construction arches, alternating symmetrically with one another. After
rising some thirty feet, further solidity is given to the wall by a
girdle suitably decorated with consoles, and on this the third belt
(which is but a few feet lower) is supported. A similar number of the
arches already mentioned, introduced as frequently as possible,
enables this wall to support the weight pressing upon it, and to raise
the harmoniously rounded cupola boldly aloft.
"In ancient times the whole building, which is composed of brick, was
covered and embellished with a coating of stucco. On the upper
cornice, at the back, between the consoles, portions of terra-cotta
decorations still remain, seeming to have formed part of this
ornamental facing.
"In our examination of the interior, we are, unfortunately, much
hindered in our attempt to investigate the constructive connection of
the whole by the unmeaning ornamental additions, and the thoughtless
transformation of the different organic masses.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE PANTHEON.]
"So much, however, may be discovered even on a superficial
survey--namely, that the architect has everywhere endeavoured, not
merely to diminish the pressure on the walls of the lower belt (which
is nearly twenty feet thick) by inserting hollow chambers, but has
given them additional strength by means of the vaulted constructions
thus introduced. A hall, supported on pillars, lies between each of
the eight modern altars, and behind each of them, on the outside, are
niches, reached through the different doors, recurring at regular
distances throughout.
"The slabs of coloured marble belonging to the attica were carried off
some hundred years ago, under Benedict XIV., and their place supplied
by the present coulisse paintings. This polychrome system would have
greatly facilitated our researches into the coloured architecture of
the ancients, and its loss is therefore much to be regretted.
"For, although this portion of the edifice was thus transformed at a
comparatively late period, still the effect of those finely harmonized
masses must have been a remarkable one.
"To judge from the combination of coloured stones still remaining in
this edifice, the effect must have been very rich and beautiful. The
elaborate capitals and bases of white marble must have formed a fine
contrast to the yellow shafts of the pillars and the stripe of
porphyry inserted in the architrave. The largest specimen of this
coloured mode of decoration has been preserved in the pavement;
although here also we must take it for granted that the original
arrangement has been disturbed, the sunken bases of the columns
sufficing to prove that the pavement has been raised in course of
time. This circumstance is not without optical reaction on the
proportions of the different masses. The horse-shoe arch over the
entrance-door is remarkable. It forms a striking contrast to that of
the tribune, where the projecting cornice rests upon two pillars,
whereas the architrave, broken through by the doorway, is supported
only by pilasters.
"The ædiculæ, now converted into altars, are covered in, partly with
gables, partly with arches, the former resting upon fluted pillars of
yellow marble, the latter upon porphyry pillars. The walls behind are
likewise faced with slabs of coloured marble, which, in their original
splendour, must have reflected the magnificence of the pillars.
"The facing of the door is the only considerable portion still
remaining of the rich bronze-work with which this edifice was
formerly fitted up. Simple as the decoration of these massive doors
now appears, it is yet imposing for such persons as are capable of
appreciating pure symmetry and a judicious distribution of the parts
in surfaces so extensive. The nails, with heads in the form of
rosettes, separating the different panels, are the only ornament. The
window above the door is closed by a grating composed of curves placed
one above the other, thus admitting both light and air. The
destruction of the bronze cross-beams which formed the roof of the
vestibule till the time of Urban VIII., is most to be regretted. This
was composed of bronze tubes, on precisely the same principle as that
on which Stephenson, a few years ago, constructed the bridge over the
Menai Straits.
"The cupola is nearly seventy feet in height, and rests on the attica,
corresponding to the second outer belt. This attica has suffered most
severely from modern alterations. The walls behind this afford space
for a series of chambers. The massive wall of the third belt, on the
other hand, surrounding the cupola to a third of its height, is
rendered accessible by a passage running round the whole; and this
again is spanned by frequently recurring arches, and lighted by the
windows visible on the outside.
"The diameter of the cupola is nearly equal to its height. The round
aperture at the top, by means of which the interior is lighted with a
magical effect, measures about twenty-eight feet in diameter. Here is
still to be seen the last and only remnant of the rich bronze
decorations of which this edifice formerly boasted. It consists of a
ring, adorned with eggs and foliage, encircling the aperture, and not
merely strengthening the edge of the wall, but constituting a graceful
and at the same time a simple and judicious ornament.
"It is certain that the five converging rows of gradually diminishing
cassettoni have been decorated in a similar manner, and it is stated
that vestiges of metal were discovered during the process of
whitewashing.
"The six niches between the altars are each supported by two fluted
pillars and a corresponding number of pilasters, the greater portion
of them being composed of monoliths of that costly yellow marble
frequently employed by the ancients. They are more than thirty-two
feet in height, and, as regards size, are unique of their kind. It has
been impossible, even for the ancients, to erect, of this rare
material, all the pillars required for the embellishment of this
splendid edifice, for which reason they were obliged to substitute six
of pavonazzetto. These, however, they stained, without injuring the
brilliancy of the marble or the transparency of the grain, in such a
manner as to bring them into harmony with the other yellow masses, and
to deceive even the most practised eye. This circumstance is of great
importance in forming an opinion on the coloured architecture of the
Greeks, as it shows how they contrived to harmonize the white marble
masses without concealing the texture of the noble material.
"It is stated by Pliny that caryatides were placed here by a certain
Diogenes of Athens, corresponding to the pillars which support the
architrave.
"Apparently they were a free repetition of the caryatides of the
Pandrosium; and probably the statue in the Braccio Nuovo, which was
brought from the Palazzo Paganica, in the immediate neighbourhood of
the Pantheon, was one of these, the scale being precisely adapted to
this situation.
"Some of the large nails used in riveting the bronze plates together
are still preserved in the different museums. We are indebted to
Serlio, an architect of the sixteenth century, who preserved a drawing
of it, for the only information we possess concerning this ingenious
piece of mechanism. The Pope mentioned above, a member of the
Barberini family, had the barbarity to carry off and melt down these
important remains. An inscription on the left of the principal door
celebrates the judicious transformation of these masses of bronze into
cannons, and ornaments for churches" (Braun).
Urban VIII. "That the useless and almost forgotten decorations might
become ornaments of the apostle's tomb in the Vatican temple, and
engines of public safety in the fortress of S. Angelo, he moulded the
ancient relics of the bronze roof into columns and cannons, in the
twelfth year of his pontificate" (Inscription).
"What the barbarians did not the Barberini have done" (Pasquino).
"On each side of the entrance to the Rotunda are two immense niches,
constructed of brick, in which the colossal statues of Augustus and
Agrippa are supposed to have been placed. This opinion seems to me too
hazardous, and contrary to the spirit of these two eminent statesmen.
"Standing among the sixteen granite pillars supporting the vestibule,
we feel that there is something overpowering in the impression it
produces. This, however, diminishes when we step out upon the piazza,
which lies too high. At its original level, a flight of five steps led
up to the building; and the effect when viewed from a distance must
have been essentially different, as we may judge from the portion of
pavement which has been excavated to the right of the Rotunda"
(Braun).
Raphael's tomb is in the third chapel on the left.
"Living, great Nature feared he might outvie
Her works; and, dying, fears herself to die."
CARDINAL BEMBO: _translated by_ POPE.
A bust, by Nardini, of Raphael was originally placed near here, but
was removed in 1820, in consequence of people offering their devotions
to it.