The Pantheon: The Architecture Of The Roman And Roman Architecture

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Have you ever felt insignificant while standing in front of a monumental building that you have seen in small images of your history book? No one could imagine the atmosphere and physical beauty inside the most beautiful structures in the world, the Pantheon and the Florence cathedral. While sitting at the fountain in front of the Pantheon, one can see the huge columns rising towards the entablature and the walls curving behind to form a cylinder. Although the exterior of the pantheon could look majestic, the interior is just as breathtaking. The first thing someone does when they enter the Pantheon is to look up at the coffered dome and the oculus. The important feature that seemed impossible to have been built during the time that the Pantheon …show more content…

The shape, design, and mystery architect emphasizes the inspiring power it creates when one walks into the pantheon. No one knows who built the pantheon, however, there is a clear association with Hadrian who "stands in relation to it as Justinian to the Hagia Sophia or Louis XIV to Versailles" (Macdonald, 2002, pg. 12). Hadrian was born in 76 A.D in Spain , part of roman empire, to a royal family. He worked in the military government and became emperor after the emperor Trajan died in 117 A.D (Macdonald, 2002, pg. 12). Hadrian was well-rounded, intelligent, kind, deceiving, and was knowledgeable in architecture, art, and poetry (Macdonald, 2002, pg. 12). Before the pantheon was built, there was a temple built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, during the emperor Augustus's reign (Joost-Gaugier, 1998, pg. 22). Although, the sanctuary was burnt, Hadrian commissioned the pantheon and kept the same inscription above the columns with Agrippa's name. Keeping Agrippa's name was intentional and Hadrian liked to exclude his name on structures built during his time (Macdonald, 2002, pg. 13). This illustrates Hadrian's meticulous personality which was different from other emperors who liked to have their names inscribed on every

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