Architectural Marvels: From Colosseum to Pantheon
The Colosseum
The Colosseum is a monumental building designed to accommodate about 50,000 spectators. Its construction involved incorporating some artificial elements, including one built by Nero in the Domus Aurea. As an act of propaganda, it was called the Coliseum because, beside an artificial lake that connected to the gate of the forums, stood a colossal statue of Nero (portrayed as the God Helio).
The Colosseum features an onion-shaped structure, with different sections of arches used to support the varying heights of the stands. The design utilizes arches and intercolumns. At the bottom are the Tuscan orders, the second part features Ionic and Corinthian orders, and the third order is composite (attached column – column-column terraced townhouse – pilaster).
The Colosseum retains half of its original facade. Although part of the facade has fallen, the stands are still supported by the arches. The facades likely featured sculptures.
The Pantheon
The architect of the Pantheon remains unknown, though Apollodorus of Damascus was once believed to be the designer. He was known for his work on projects like the Trajan’s Column and Trajan’s Market.
This temple was built under the rule of Hadrian, an admirer of the arts, Hellenic culture, and known for his liberal views. He dedicated this temple to all the gods and, of course, to himself and the sacred city of Rome, inaugurating a period of peace.
The Pantheon features an octasytle portal with a fairly conventional pronaos, adorned with Corinthian columns of marble and granite, and different capitals. It presents an entablature with an architrave, a frieze (with epigraphic decoration), and a rather large pediment tympanum (which may have had additional decoration). The reason for the inscription on the frieze is unknown.
The Pantheon is a circular building (symbolizing intuition, as Agrippa was favored by the people) with a dome. The portico, with its highly developed pronaos, is octasytle. The architecture is mixed, employing both architrave and lintel systems. The columns serve more of a decorative purpose than a structural one. The pronaos is divided into three parts, with the largest in the middle.
The Pantheon’s cylindrical base is composed of columns and architraved chapels. The weight of the dome is supported by piers, not the columns. The dome itself is covered in gilt bronze, which would have been visible from all over Rome. The building materials include various colored marble, such as porcilio, brought from Egypt.
Light enters the building through a 9-foot diameter oculus. The columns alternate with gazebos decorated with gods of the Roman pantheon. While the columns appear to support the dome, the actual support comes from buttresses. On the original entablature, a second body forms a sort of window balcony.
The gigantic dome represents the celestial sphere. To lighten this massive structure, opus caementicium was used, and a coffered dome was built to evoke the sky and stars. The building is designed as a perfect sphere with a diameter of 43.5 feet. The square base represents the earthly form, while the circle represents the perfect, unending, divine form.
Portico de la Gloria
This gate represents the heavenly Jerusalem. Its design marks a transition from Romanesque to Gothic sculpture. Some consider it the last work of Spanish Romanesque, while others see it as the first of the Gothic period. It was created by Master Mateo in the twelfth century, approximately between 1168 and 1188.
The Gateway has three entrances, reflecting the basilica layout of the church, with the central nave being taller and wider than the side aisles.
The nave features a large decorative drum supported by a mullion with four columns. The decoration of the eardrum follows a specific program. It depicts a serene Christ surrounded by the tetramorph. The evangelists are shown writing their gospels: Luke with the bull, Mark with the lion, and John with the eagle. Matthew, the only one not depicted with his usual symbol, sits at a chest, referencing his former profession as a tax collector. Two angels flank Jesus’ head. The archivolt of the eardrum is decorated with musician kings in high relief, leaning more towards the Gothic style than Romanesque.
Below the figure of Jesus, attached to the mullion, is a seated statue of an apostle. He holds a staff in one hand and a scroll with an inscription in the other. The sculpture is almost fully in the round. The apostle gestures towards the temple entrance. The chair upon which he sits rests on a marble capital representing the Holy Trinity.
Sculptures of the apostles are attached to the columns on the jambs. Their poses are innovative, expressive, and natural. Their feet create a zig-zag composition. The sculptures were originally polychromed for greater realism. On the other jamb are four statues of prophets: Moses holding the tablets, Isaiah with a cap, a smiling Daniel, and Jeremiah with a long beard.
The two side arches feature scenes of paradise, including Adam and Eve and the captivity of the tribes of Israel, and scenes of Judgment.
A work of this scale would have required a workshop led by Master Mateo. Differences in quality are evident in various parts, suggesting the work of different hands. While the Pantocrator and the column statues are attributed to Master Mateo himself, the angels and evangelists on the tympanum are likely the work of his disciples.
Master Mateo’s self-portrait can be found on the porch, kneeling before the cathedral’s altar.
The Portico de la Gloria, in the style of Master Mateo, significantly influenced the shift towards naturalism in 12th and 13th century Spanish Romanesque sculpture.