Pantheon
The Pantheon is a temple dedicated to the Olympian Gods. After the Battle of Actium, Marcus Agrippa commissioned the building to the Roman gods. It was built by Hadrian between 118-128 CE. It was built of concrete with Corinthian columns with a dome on top of the rotunda behind it. The front of the building has a rectangular overhang which contains the roman columns. The columns are an art style also seen in the Greek architecture. The porch opens into the rotunda, the concrete dome. The rotunda is a large circular room. There was an enclosed courtyard around the pantheon. The courtyard hide the rotunda from the public which exaggerated it size and made it surprise walk in thing that was noticed. At the dome’s apex is the oculus which is one of the two light sources in the building. The other light source is the door area. The oculus is 29 feet. It brings about natural light from the sky giving the area a divine heavenly feeling. The ceiling of the dome has five rows of 28 sunken coffers. This work of art has influenced many later to come like Christian churches.
Church of Santa Costanza
Church of Santa Costanza
It is a model for Christian tombs, martyrs’ churches and baptisteries. It is a central-plan roman building with vertical axes. This church was build by Constantine for his daughter Constantina. It was build before 350 CE outside the walls of Rome (Stockstad 227). In 1256, the building became a church dedicated to Santa Costanza. The building has a barrel-vaulted passageway called the ambulatory that enclose the rotunda. The round building is 29 meters in diameter and is separated by twelve column pairs. There are entablature blocks, paired columns, and complex capitals that support the dome. The original building was covered with marble. There are still mosaics and other works of art that survive inside the church like the “harvesting of grapes mosaic.” There are clerestory windows on the second level that shed natural light into the building creating a divine feeling or heavenly one. There are many Christian beliefs found in the church like the green and red colored marble is color coded to point to the cross.
The roman art was used to represent rulers and other deities. The Christian art is based on the Romans like the Roman was based on the Greeks. Many of the Greeks techniques were abandoned by the roman. Each society urges to make its own cultural depiction or style. The Christians were under the power and influence of the Romans, so the picked up the Roman style of art. Christians were being persecuted until the the Christian Emperor Constantine. many roman rulers and other people claimed deitical (godly) characteristics; this can be seen in the roman art. the christian art is based on Jesus, the cruxification, and the 12 disciples. A great connection between the Santa Costanza church and the Pantheon is the rotundas. The rotundas are the main feature of both the Roman and Christian church. The Christian churches and the Roman building were built for particular reason like a dedication to the roman polytheistic gods or other religious purposes like story of the Messiah Christ. The roman style was used by the early Christian churches. This shows society connection to the Roman Empire as a leading political power. The Christians added on to the Roman style and used it to represent their ways. The oculus and the clerestory windows are used to create an emotion with the light. the mosaic of the grape harvest in the church has roman ideas and art like the grape vines. these are things that are of ease to maybe the society back then. I would say that the Christian are is based symbolism trying to send or depict a message rather than the Roman art focus on realism, the physical appearance idea. There were many illiterate people in society back then; the Christian art was a way of presenting the teaching of God that Jesus taught and Jesus life off course. The time shift between the roman art and the developing Christian world went from a polytheistic world to a monotheistic world. Also, it is a shift from mankind to more of a divine or godly focus. This theme is seen throughout Christian churches that were established and are to come later on.
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