The study of ancient Greek art greatly encompasses ancient Roman art. Romans were very concerned and admired Greek art. The Greek culture greatly symbolized different aspects of living such as arts, leisure, and the whole concept of cultural living. The art from Greek artisans became very popular during the conquering of Greece by Romans in their major cities. This was around 211 BCE when the Romans copied and transferred the work of art to their cities. The Roman elites were so much impressed by the Greek sculptors and even went ahead to set studios for artistic works. The two prominent works of the Parthenon and Pantheon reveal how each type of cultural architecture embodied their cultural and philosophical assumptions.
One of the great works of the Romans was the Pantheon building. It is referred to as Pantheum in Latin. Today, it is one of the best-preserved monuments in Italy, Rome. The structure was established around 126-128 AD under the reign of Emperor Hadrian. It is established on a location that initially hosted another building with the same name. The building was initially built by a statesman by the name of Marcus Agrippa around 25BC. It was assumed to be a residing temple for Roman gods. It was later destroyed by fire in 80 CE (Williams,2018). It greatly symbolizes the great architectural skills portrayed by the ancient genius architects of Rome. The Pantheon is assumed not to be a place where cults were done but basically a place for Emperor. It is where the emperor could make general public appearances which then reminded the people of his divine equality with other Roman gods and his predecessors.
Another prominent architectural work is the Parthenon, 447-432 B.C.E. Athens, Greece. The building is a resplendent marble temple established during the reign Greek Empire. The building was built in accordance with dedicating it to the Greek goddess known as Athena. She is associated with wisdom, literature, and the art of war. It sits at a high compound of temples in Athens a place known as Acropolis (Brokalaki & Patsiaou,2021. The building is credited to the works of Pericles a Greek statesman. He is the one who ordered the design and construction of the temple. However, initially, there rested another pre-Parthenon on the same site where the Parthenon lies. It is believed that the older one was destroyed by the Persian empire when they attacked Athens though some theorists dispute this claim. The Parthenon has withstood natural calamities such as fire, earthquakes, and wars over the centuries which depicts the powerful Greek culture (Kissock,2018).
The pantheon is built under classical architectural design with an elegant style. It is circular in shape with clear lines with subtitles accents incorporated in form of metallic decorations. The Pantheon has also embraced classical architectural skills where the builders used large arches and domes of about 4535 tons. This shows how greatly the builders were genius and skilled. The structure has a sculpted frieze that runs continuously and four ionic columns to support the opisthodomos roof. On the other hand, the Parthenon also embodies several extraordinary architectural styles. It has a rectangular floor unlike the Pantheon with circular shapes. These styles when combined give a sculptural and plastic appearance to the whole structure. It is a Doric-styled temple that is being supported by iron-made columns and curvature at the base along the building ends which remains to be upward and remains repeated in the entablature. There are also the four column’s corners designed to counteract the effect of reflecting light at certain angles from the sky making it to be seen from above.
Both of the two buildings were designed and used the same style of a temple. The Pantheon borrows a large part of its design and architectural style from the Parthenon, mostly the Greek traditional temples. The two temples use eight columns continuously in their design as supportive figures. The two temples have withstood harsh conditions showing how both of them are strong and durable. They were designed to withstand natural factors such as fire, wars, and earthquakes. The two structures.
The Pantheon of Rome is round in plan, with a massive in diameter and thickness dome made out of concrete. It stands at a measurement of 1.3 meters on a high base which leads it to an extension of 7 meters in front of the colonnade. Outside of the massive portico of large granite Corinthian columns eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment, it has no reference to the archetypical Greek temple and of course, it was originally dedicated to all of the Olympian deities, not just one while the Parthenon of Greece is orthogonal, peripteros which means it has a colonnade all-around with measurements of 8×17 grid, Doric order, was made out of marble outside of iron reinforcement and wooden roof and dedicated to one Deity, Athena, protector of Athens (Rüpke, 2020).
The Parthenon was established as the center of religious life in Athens. Although it was built as a dedication to the Greece goddess, it was a symbol of power, culture, and wealth of Athenians and it also existed when democracy was the epitome way of thinking of the Greek people. There was a sign of democracy where every individual had a voice in articulating their issues through the assembly. The meeting would be held on the Pnyx hill which lay next to the Acropolis and it was scheduled to happen forty times per year to discuss all matters of domestic and foreign policies. On the other hand, the Pantheon was meant to serve as a gathering hall for the people. It was not necessarily a temple for it lacked formal shape like the other temples. It was meant to appease the Roman gods as the destruction of the previous one implied that the gods were unhappy (Becker, 2020).
Hadrian mainly designed the building of the temple to give the people something they would be proud of. The interior design was symbolic of the greatness endowed to the empire. The Domes lacked corners due to the circular shape and this demonstrated the perfection and permanence nature of the empire. The perfection of the domes also implied the continuity of the heavens which were strongly attached to the Roman gods. The circular patterns and squared floor symbolized the order of the Roman empire.
Both of the two structures are historical times present as they are one of the most valued monuments today. It is situated on the Acropolis and it is one f the most visited museums today in Greece. A new Acropolis museum was opened in 2009 to preserve Greek historical architectural heritage while the Pantheon is also one of the preserved buildings in Rome today.
In conclusion, the Greek has contributed to the influence of western art nowadays. People have started researching human body sculptures. Greeks have developed distinct architectural identities and have made many phenomenal pieces of art.0n the other hand, Roman architecture has influenced the growth of modern architecture. The use of columns, arches, and domes have been emulated in modern constructions such as in Paris which drew a lot of inspiration from Roman architects.
Bibliography
Becker, J. A. (2020). Greek and Roman architecture course syllabus.
Brokalaki, Z., & Patsiaouras, G. (2021). Commodifying ancient cultural heritage: the market evolution of the Parthenon temple. Journal of Historical Research in Marketing.
Kissock, H. (2018). Parthenon. Weigl Publishers.
Rüpke, J. (2020). Pantheon: A New History of Roman Religion. Princeton University Press.
Williams, C. (2018). A Study of the Pantheon Through Time.
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