The Pantheon, says a late tourist, “is the most perfect, as a whole, of
all the structures which have come down to us from ancient Rome. The
invasion of time alone would not have injured it materially, and,
notwithstanding the spoliations of popes and other depredators, it still
remains a grand and beautiful building. It stands in a dirty,
disagreeable herb market, and the accumulations of earth and rubbish
have almost entirely covered its lofty steps, which were seven in
number, until its floor is now nearly on a level with the street. Its
dome was covered with gilt bronze, and its portico lined with the same
metal, which was plundered to be cast for the pillars and other parts of
the _baldacchino_ in St. Peter’s. On this occasion, four hundred and
fifty thousand pounds were taken. The emperor Constans II. had
previously, in 657, stripped the roof, and plundered the silver from the
interior of the dome. He destined these things for the ornament of his
imperial palace at Constantinople; but being murdered at Syracuse, on
his return, the plunder was borne to Alexandria. It was, originally, the
spoils of Egypt after the battle of Actium, and now returned to Egypt
again. The external facings of polished marble, have also been torn off;
but although thus despoiled, the Pantheon is still magnificent,
notwithstanding that the fires have often heated it, the overflowing
Tiber has deluged its floor, and the rains have poured in at the only
opening, which is in the dome. This is a circular hole in the center of
the dome, twenty-eight feet in diameter, and is said to have been once
glazed. The rich marble facings and magnificent columns of the interior,
still remain. The beautiful columns are of polished granite and
porphyry. The niches, originally filled by the statues of the pagan
gods, have not been disturbed; but they are now occupied by saints, and
virgins, and other symbols of Catholic worship. The interior is one vast
room, one hundred and forty-three feet in diameter, exclusive of the
walls, which are twenty feet thick, and it is of the same hight, one
hundred and forty-three feet: the dome occupies one-half of the hight.
It is not inaptly illustrated by the rotunda of the Capitol at
Washington, which, although smaller, is of the same form. When in the
Roman Pantheon, you look up to its sky-lighted dome, there is an
impression of simple grandeur which even St. Peter’s does not produce:
“‘Simple, erect, severe, austere, sublime—
Shrine of all saints, and temple of all gods.’
“An inscription on the frieze records that the Pantheon was erected by
Agrippa, B. C. _anno_ 26; and another inscription on the architrave
records its subsequent restoration by Septimius Severus. In 608,
Boniface obtained from the emperor Phocas permission to consecrate the
Pantheon as a Christian church, which, doubtless, saved it from
destruction. How much is it to be regretted that a similar protection
had not saved the Coliseum and other precious works, whose ruins bear
testimony to the misdirected zeal of the Christian church in early ages.
The portico is one hundred and ten feet long and forty-four deep. It
contains sixteen Corinthian monolithic columns of oriental granite,
forty six and one-half feet high and five feet in diameter, with
capitals and bases of Greek marble. The pediment still shows where the
figures in bass-relief were attached.
“The magnificent bronze doors are thirty-nine feet high, and the entire
opening is nineteen wide. It is believed that they are the original
doors erected by Agrippa. No doubt they would have been used for the
decoration of St. Peter’s, had not the Pantheon been consecrated as a
church. The interior cornice at the bottom of the dome has been
perfectly preserved, with its rich sculptures. The pavement of the
Pantheon is of porphyry, alternating with other polished stones in
geometric figures. Some antiquarians have argued that the Pantheon was
originally an appendage of the baths of Agrippa, and that the portico
was of subsequent construction, when the building was converted into a
temple. However this may be, it is one of the most interesting
structures of ancient or modern times; and had it not been most
shamefully robbed it would have stood to-day perfect in beauty as it was
when Christ died, and when Paul preached and suffered in Rome. We bent
with deep interest over the grave of Raphael, whose remains still
slumber beneath the pavement of the Pantheon, marked only by a humble
slab of marble level with the floor. It is well known that until 1833
his place of interment was only matter of conjecture; in that year,
owing to unexpected evidence, the present grave was opened in presence
of the pope and numerous artists. The skull was of a singularly fine
form; and its discovery spoiled the speculations of the phrenologists on
another skull in the academy of St. Luke’s, which had before been
supposed to be that of the great painter.”