APAH U5: Pantheon/Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus

MEDIUM: Concrete with stone facing

DATE: 118 - 125 CE

CULTURE OF ORIGIN: Imperial Roman
LOCATION: Rome, Italy

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Pantheon

• Evidence suggests building was commissioned and begun under Trajan but completed during rule of emperor Hadrian.

• Enscription states:

• "Marcus Agrippa, the son of Lucius, three times consul, made this"

• Marcus Agrippa = consul (highest political Roman office). Possibly constructed original Pantheon which was later destroyed. Inscription dedicated to his idea and to show Hadrian's humility.

CONTEXT

Hadrian

• Originally meant to honor planetary gods (Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, etc.).

• "pan" = all; "theo" = god; It is a temple for all the gods, not single one

• 609 CE: Pope Boniface IV had "pagan filth" removed; statues of planetary gods destroyed, stars and blue paint removed from ceiling.

• Converted into Christian church.

• Considered to be one of the most influential designs in history of architecture.

• Also final resting place of Renaissance artist Raphael

CONTEXT

Tomb of Raphael

• Monolith Corinthian columns (made from a single stone) support the entrance and double pediment at top.

• ​Main structure = concrete cylindrical drum topped by a concrete dome.

• Diameter of dome = to diameter of dome; makes a circle inscribed in a square. Interior could, theoretically, hold a perfect sphere.

• Original bronze doors at entrance; each weighs 20 tons.

CONTENT

• Few windows. Most light comes from entrance and oculus, a round or eye-like opening or design.

• Thickness of dome lessens near oculus.

• Oculus has no glass; when it rains, floor gets wet.

• During use as church, roses dropped down from oculus on Pentacost Sunday and statue of Jesus lifted "up into heaven."

CONTENT

• Revolutionary for huge, uninterrupted interior space.

• Dome made of 5 coffered (a recessed panel in a ceiling) bands; becomes smaller near oculus to make dome look higher.

• Niches along wall would have house statues of planetary gods.

• Painted blue with constellations originally.

• Colored marble columns in interior, shipped from Roman quarries in Egypt (expression of Hadrian's wealth).

• Weight of dome concentrated on 8 pillars.

FORM

Coffered bands

Multiple Choice

The Pantheon exemplifies Roman innovations in the use of concrete in the creation of its

• expansive upper clerestory

• continuous vaulted ambulatory

• massive coffered dome

• free-standing colonnade

Multiple Choice

The term for the central opening in the dome is

• an impluvium

• an oculus

• a clerestory

• a lantern

• Meant to strengthen state religion (both for Roman religion with pantheon gods and eventually Christianity).

• Expression of emperor's wealth, power, and authority.

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FUNCTION

Buildings influenced by Pantheon

MEDIUM: Marble

DATE: 250 CE

CULTURE OF ORIGIN: Imperial Roman

LOCATION:

​Rome, Italy

Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus

• Romans customarily cremated their dead but moved towards burying them in sarcophagi.

• ​At time of creation, Rome not as stable or at peace as during time of Augustus.

• Faced many invasions, eventually leading to fall of Western Roman Empire by Goths (nomadic Germanic tribe).

CONTEXT

Sacking of Rome in 410

Joseph Noel Sylvestre

• Depicts battle between Romans and Goths

• Romans depicted heroically, idealized; Goths depicted as barbarians (bushy hair, beards, puffy)

• Carved from a large single block of marble

• Figures entangled with one another

CONTENT

Multiple Choice

The Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus depicts the Romans in the midst of a battle with

• Persians

• Greeks

• Egyptians

• Goths

• Carved in deep, high relief, figures almost offset from main marble block.

• Figures at top larger and figures at bottom smaller; perspective feels as if being viewed from above.

• Figures densely cover surface = active surface with movement and action

• Highly expressive faces

• Rejects classical proportion and perspective of Greeks

FORM

• Funerary

• ​Boasts fearlessness and assuredness of victory

• Reflects turmoil of time it was created in.

FUNCTION

Multiple Choice

The Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus is done in low relief.

• TRUE

• FALSE