Paris Pantheon Research Paper
PANTHEON IN PARİS
The Paris Pantheon is a neo-classical church in the Latin Quarter of Paris that was modeled after the Pantheon in Rome.With a dome similar to the one on St Paul’s Cathedral in London, the pantheon was originally an abbey, but today serves as a glimpse of history as the burial place for French heroes, leaders, artists, and writers.
Neo-Classical architecture is a new birth of the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. A Neoclassical building is likely to have these features: symmetrical shape, tall columns that rise the full height of the building, triangular pediment, and a domed roof that the Pantheon is one of the major work in the neoclassical style.
HİSTORY
The pantheon is the …show more content…
essential Neo-Classic monument in Paris. When King Louis XV
Suffered from a serious illness in 1744, he vowed a to build a church dedicated to Sainte-
Geneviève If he would survive.
Construction of imposing building started in 1757,Soufflot also drew up plans for a monumental square and a law school was built opposite the church between 1771 and 1783, which was then followed by a school of theology, but due to financial difficulties, it was only completed after Soufflot’s death, by his pupil Jean-Baptiste
Rondelet, in 1789. The Revolution happened in that period and in 1791 the constitutive assembly gave a decree through which the basilica was transformed into a temple supposed to host the remains of the nation’s personalities. Since then, the Pantheon was transformed back into a basilica two times. In 1885, once the writer Victor Hugo was buried in the mausoleum and the Pantheon was never again transformed into a basilica, thus remaining a civic temple, used for burying personalities. Today its vaults contain all sorts of politicians, writers, and thinkers.There is also the heart of Leon Gambetta in an urn, along with
Resistance fighters like Jean Moulin whose ashes were transferred from the Pere Lachaise
Cemetary, Louis Braille whose body was moved to the Pantheon on the centenary of his death and many more that have been buried at this fabulous monument in Paris, but one
of the most recent people to be interred in the Pantheon is Alexandre Dumas and although he was originally buried in the place of his birth because he was of mixed race and this was not considered acceptable at the time, the French President, Jacques Chirac, had his body exhumed in 2002, which was over 130 years after his death, stating that an injustice had been corrected with the proper honouring of one of the great authors from France. The Pantheon was also the place where, in 1851, the astronomer Jean Bernard Léon
Foucault first held is famous experiment, proving that the world spins around its axis.The
Foucault pendulum moved in 1851 to the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers. In 1995, it temporarily moved back to the Pantheon due to construction works at the Conservatoire.
ELEMENTS, DESİGN AND DETAİLS OF THE PANTHEON
The overall design was that of a Greek cross with massive portico of Corinthian columns. Its ambitious lines called for a vast building 110 meters long by 84 meters wide, and 83 meters high, but the actual Pantheon has a combination of different styles like Greek architecture and also a Gothic system that utilised flying buttresses and arches to make it as light as possible and there were 45 clerestory windows to flood the building with light, although these were blocked up during the French Revolution.
Although the exterior of the building is impressive, the Pantheon is especially drawed attentionfor its interior (see pic.1).The interior was designed by Soufflot to achieve visibility andclarity.However constructional defects made it necessary to use massive piers, and the conversion of the building to serve as a mausoleum involved sacrificing many of the windows. The same type of Corinthian columns which form the facade can be found in the interior, a huge central space that is emphasized by rows of Corinthian style columns that are located on each side of the aisle, but there are also thick pillars that support the weight of the impressive dome above. The interior of the Pantheon hosts three main elements. The first element is composed of numerous exceptional paintings covering the walls, each of them reflecting a piece of the history of France,which are basically paintings on canvas that are glued in place, and these are located where the original windows were bricked up during the French Revolution and depict the life of Saint Genevieve, the beginnings of Christianity and the beginnings of the monarchy in France.The second main element is Foucault’s pendulum, situated precisely in the center of the Pantheon (see pic.2).Today there is a copy of the pendulum in thePantheon since the original one was returned to the Arts and Crafts
Museum. Foucault’s pendulum is surrounded by sculptures of the early 20th century, rendering scenes of the French Revolution.
(pic. 1- Interior of the Pantheon)
(pic. 2- Foucault’s pendulum)
The third important element of the interior of the building is a magnificent statue placed in the back. The statue is known as “The National Convention” and it renders
Marianne – the symbol of France – surrounded by soldiers and members of the Parliament after the Revolution (see pic.3). Right under Marianne’s figure there is an inscription which translates “Live free or die”. Around 70 French personalities were buried in the crypt of the
Pantheon and this is why it is visited by many tourists. Amongst those personalities we mention: Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Emile Zola, Rousseau, Marie Curie and Jean Moulin. There is a fronton on which the words “The Nation crowning the heroes” and “For great people on behalf of the grateful Nation” are sculpted, over the pylons from the entrance (see pic.4). On the left side of the fronton, there are two little sculpture that belongs to philosophers and writers (Voltaire and Rousseau).
(pic. 3 - Sculpture of the Convention Nationale)
(pic. 4 – View of the Fronton)
The fronton is not the original one, but it was added in 1837 in order to show the new purpose of the building. Other typical features of the main entrance are the massive
Corinthian columns. The facade was inspired by Agrippa’s Pantheon in Rome. Details of combined neoclassic Roman and Greek styles may be seen both on the exterior as well as on the interior. The great dome of the Pantheon was inspired by other similar Renaissance styles. The architect who projected the Pantheon in Paris created the dome in order to allow more light to enter the building.
ABOUT PORTİCO
Porticos are named for the number of columns they have across the facade.
Jacques GermainSoufflot (1713-80) designed the French Pantheon at Paris, and its facade and portico has massive Corinthian columns modelled on that of the Pantheon at Rome (see pic.5). When it was completed in 1789 it was hailed as a revolutionary building for France, expressing a new and more serious, not to say solemn attitude, toward antiquity. It combined Roman regularity and monumentality with structural lightness in what is considered his masterpiece.
(pic. 5 - View of the Portico - Pantheon in Paris) Porticos are used a lot of historical buildings by important architects. It was the
Venetian Architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) who revived the use of porticos in the modern world and his colleagues and those architects who came after him, took it up enthusiastically for centuries.He gave form once more to an architectural device, whose origins had been veiled by the mists of time following the decline of the Roman Empire in the west.He was studying 1st century ancient Roman architect Vitruvius’s treatise, which had been ‘lost’ for centuries stored away in a monastery until re-discovered by Italian scholar, writer and humanist PoggioBracciolini (1380-1459) in 1410.
CONCLUSİON
The Pantheon is basically a cross-shaped building with a domed center.Walking along the interior walls of the building you can follow the history of Paris through murals depicting historical religious and revolutionary figures. Huge columns and stone walls are the most important parts of the appearances in the neoclassical style that feel big and empty, as I understood you can also drop to “inside voice” as sounds seemed to ricochet off the stone walls. In addition to these, the Crypt and the Foucault’s pendulum give importance to the
Pantheon in a different way which is also so important.
The Paris Pantheon is a neo-classical church in the Latin Quarter of Paris that was modeled after the Pantheon in Rome.With a dome similar to the one on St Paul’s Cathedral in London, the pantheon was originally an abbey, but today serves as a glimpse of history as the burial place for French heroes, leaders, artists, and writers.
Neo-Classical architecture is a new birth of the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. A Neoclassical building is likely to have these features: symmetrical shape, tall columns that rise the full height of the building, triangular pediment, and a domed roof that the Pantheon is one of the major work in the neoclassical style.
HİSTORY
The pantheon is the …show more content…
essential Neo-Classic monument in Paris. When King Louis XV
Suffered from a serious illness in 1744, he vowed a to build a church dedicated to Sainte-
Geneviève If he would survive.
Construction of imposing building started in 1757,Soufflot also drew up plans for a monumental square and a law school was built opposite the church between 1771 and 1783, which was then followed by a school of theology, but due to financial difficulties, it was only completed after Soufflot’s death, by his pupil Jean-Baptiste
Rondelet, in 1789. The Revolution happened in that period and in 1791 the constitutive assembly gave a decree through which the basilica was transformed into a temple supposed to host the remains of the nation’s personalities. Since then, the Pantheon was transformed back into a basilica two times. In 1885, once the writer Victor Hugo was buried in the mausoleum and the Pantheon was never again transformed into a basilica, thus remaining a civic temple, used for burying personalities. Today its vaults contain all sorts of politicians, writers, and thinkers.There is also the heart of Leon Gambetta in an urn, along with
Resistance fighters like Jean Moulin whose ashes were transferred from the Pere Lachaise
Cemetary, Louis Braille whose body was moved to the Pantheon on the centenary of his death and many more that have been buried at this fabulous monument in Paris, but one
of the most recent people to be interred in the Pantheon is Alexandre Dumas and although he was originally buried in the place of his birth because he was of mixed race and this was not considered acceptable at the time, the French President, Jacques Chirac, had his body exhumed in 2002, which was over 130 years after his death, stating that an injustice had been corrected with the proper honouring of one of the great authors from France. The Pantheon was also the place where, in 1851, the astronomer Jean Bernard Léon
Foucault first held is famous experiment, proving that the world spins around its axis.The
Foucault pendulum moved in 1851 to the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers. In 1995, it temporarily moved back to the Pantheon due to construction works at the Conservatoire.
ELEMENTS, DESİGN AND DETAİLS OF THE PANTHEON
The overall design was that of a Greek cross with massive portico of Corinthian columns. Its ambitious lines called for a vast building 110 meters long by 84 meters wide, and 83 meters high, but the actual Pantheon has a combination of different styles like Greek architecture and also a Gothic system that utilised flying buttresses and arches to make it as light as possible and there were 45 clerestory windows to flood the building with light, although these were blocked up during the French Revolution.
Although the exterior of the building is impressive, the Pantheon is especially drawed attentionfor its interior (see pic.1).The interior was designed by Soufflot to achieve visibility andclarity.However constructional defects made it necessary to use massive piers, and the conversion of the building to serve as a mausoleum involved sacrificing many of the windows. The same type of Corinthian columns which form the facade can be found in the interior, a huge central space that is emphasized by rows of Corinthian style columns that are located on each side of the aisle, but there are also thick pillars that support the weight of the impressive dome above. The interior of the Pantheon hosts three main elements. The first element is composed of numerous exceptional paintings covering the walls, each of them reflecting a piece of the history of France,which are basically paintings on canvas that are glued in place, and these are located where the original windows were bricked up during the French Revolution and depict the life of Saint Genevieve, the beginnings of Christianity and the beginnings of the monarchy in France.The second main element is Foucault’s pendulum, situated precisely in the center of the Pantheon (see pic.2).Today there is a copy of the pendulum in thePantheon since the original one was returned to the Arts and Crafts
Museum. Foucault’s pendulum is surrounded by sculptures of the early 20th century, rendering scenes of the French Revolution.
(pic. 1- Interior of the Pantheon)
(pic. 2- Foucault’s pendulum)
The third important element of the interior of the building is a magnificent statue placed in the back. The statue is known as “The National Convention” and it renders
Marianne – the symbol of France – surrounded by soldiers and members of the Parliament after the Revolution (see pic.3). Right under Marianne’s figure there is an inscription which translates “Live free or die”. Around 70 French personalities were buried in the crypt of the
Pantheon and this is why it is visited by many tourists. Amongst those personalities we mention: Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Emile Zola, Rousseau, Marie Curie and Jean Moulin. There is a fronton on which the words “The Nation crowning the heroes” and “For great people on behalf of the grateful Nation” are sculpted, over the pylons from the entrance (see pic.4). On the left side of the fronton, there are two little sculpture that belongs to philosophers and writers (Voltaire and Rousseau).
(pic. 3 - Sculpture of the Convention Nationale)
(pic. 4 – View of the Fronton)
The fronton is not the original one, but it was added in 1837 in order to show the new purpose of the building. Other typical features of the main entrance are the massive
Corinthian columns. The facade was inspired by Agrippa’s Pantheon in Rome. Details of combined neoclassic Roman and Greek styles may be seen both on the exterior as well as on the interior. The great dome of the Pantheon was inspired by other similar Renaissance styles. The architect who projected the Pantheon in Paris created the dome in order to allow more light to enter the building.
ABOUT PORTİCO
Porticos are named for the number of columns they have across the facade.
Jacques GermainSoufflot (1713-80) designed the French Pantheon at Paris, and its facade and portico has massive Corinthian columns modelled on that of the Pantheon at Rome (see pic.5). When it was completed in 1789 it was hailed as a revolutionary building for France, expressing a new and more serious, not to say solemn attitude, toward antiquity. It combined Roman regularity and monumentality with structural lightness in what is considered his masterpiece.
(pic. 5 - View of the Portico - Pantheon in Paris) Porticos are used a lot of historical buildings by important architects. It was the
Venetian Architect Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) who revived the use of porticos in the modern world and his colleagues and those architects who came after him, took it up enthusiastically for centuries.He gave form once more to an architectural device, whose origins had been veiled by the mists of time following the decline of the Roman Empire in the west.He was studying 1st century ancient Roman architect Vitruvius’s treatise, which had been ‘lost’ for centuries stored away in a monastery until re-discovered by Italian scholar, writer and humanist PoggioBracciolini (1380-1459) in 1410.
CONCLUSİON
The Pantheon is basically a cross-shaped building with a domed center.Walking along the interior walls of the building you can follow the history of Paris through murals depicting historical religious and revolutionary figures. Huge columns and stone walls are the most important parts of the appearances in the neoclassical style that feel big and empty, as I understood you can also drop to “inside voice” as sounds seemed to ricochet off the stone walls. In addition to these, the Crypt and the Foucault’s pendulum give importance to the
Pantheon in a different way which is also so important.