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The Pantheon |
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written
by zinnia / 09.04.2005 |
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The name Pantheon translates to “temple of all the gods”. During Roman times, the building functioned as a temple for all the gods under the Roman religion. When Hadrian rebuilt the temple, he continued the original purpose but aggrandized its all encompassing grandeur. In his eye, the sanctuary was an epitome of the earth and heavens. When standing in the center of the Pantheon directly beneath the oculus, the position was and still is comparable to the pivot of the universe, around which everything dutifully revolves.
In the 7th century the Pantheon was reconsecrated as a church. Subsequently amendments were made to parts of the interior; among other things, numerous pieces of religious art as well as tombs currently reside in the Pantheon. Within the central apse is a choir designed by Luigi Poletti in 1840. When standing at the entrance bay and facing the interior, the first chapel on the right is the Chapel of the Annunciation, which holds the fresco that gave the chapel its name, Annunciation. In the west niche lies the tomb of the first king of united Italy, King Victor Emmanuel II. The Madonna of the railing, formally known as The Madonna of Mercy between St Francis and St John the Baptist sits in the third chapel; the epithet of the painting came from its former position, as it was suspended in a niche left of the portico and protected by a railing. The Chapel of St. Joseph in the Holy Land is the first one left of the rotunda entrance. This is the chapel of the Confraternity of Virtuosi in the Pantheon. The group was established by Desiderio da Segni in the 16th century. The society continues today as the Academia Ponteficia di Belle Arti. In the next chapel dwells the tomb of King Umberto I and his wife Margherita di Savoia. Before his death, the great artist Raphael had requested that he be interred in the Pantheon, and so he was. The third niche holds Raphael’s ancient sarcophagus as well as Maria Bibbiena, his fiancée. The inscription on his sarcophagus reads ILLE HIS EST RAPHAEL TIMUIT QUO SOSPITE VINCI / RERUM MAGNA PARENS ET MORIENTE MORI, “here lies Raphael, by whom the mother of all things (Nature) feared to be overcome whilst he was living, and whilst he was dying, herself to die”.
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