Roman accomplishments and architecture

 

The Romans were also great experts of vaultings. This is demonstrated in the Pantheon. Its interior is a vast rounded hall with a vaulted roof and a circular opening at the top, called the 'oculus' which was the only source of light to the building. The Pantheon was originally a temple for the gods, but was then transformed into a church. The most important difficulty that the Romans faced during the construction process of the Pantheon was the huge amount of weight of the large dome. The Romans also used a different type of concrete for the dome than for the walls. In fact, both the invention of concrete and that of the Dome are important achievements of the Romans. 

Pompeii, which was a Roman town, contained many influences of Hellenistic art. This is due to the fact that art changed little during the Roman conquests. However,  changes that art endured occurred when artists were given new tasks. The most popular achievements of the Romans was probably in civil engineering. This consisted in their roads, aqueducts and public baths. 

One of the most important Roman designs was the round arch. This creation made a vast difference in the structure of architecture. One may immagine the reaction of the people who were used to enormous columns decorating their facade's temples, and suddenly the creation of a round arch, was not only a differing style, but it made also the creation of levels possible. In fact, the Colosseum was created that way. This building consists of three levels of arches. One may easily notice how the Roman design was influenced by the Greek design in architecture. It was a typical thing, that the Romans took from the Greek architecture the designs that they liked, and applied them to what they needed. Even though the rounded arches of the Colosseum make the building a unique design for their time, each level is structured with a Greek style. The ground floor is a variation of the Doric style, the second one has an Ionic style, and the remaining floors have a Corinthian style. This combination in styles had a huge influence on later architects. In fact the triumphal arches were used everywhere around the Roman Empire. One of which is in France, the Triumphal arch of Tiberius.  

               The different layers of the Colosseum, built with different styles of the Greek era. 

         A Roman influence; the Triumphal Arch of Tiberius, this time illustrated in Orange, Southern France

                                         The Interior of the Pantheon  

The invention of the Dome did not stop at the Romans era. It travelled through times and was rediscovered during the Renaissance. The world Renaissance means rebirth or revival. This rebirth was associated with everything. It was a time when discoveries were being made about everything from philosophy, science, and the study of the human anatomy, whose one of its masters was Leonardo da Vinci, to art and architecture. The architect Filippo Brunelleschi was the one who was commissioned to complete the Florence cathedral. The Florentines wanted to have their cathedral crowned by a mighty dome, but no artist was able to do so until Brunelleschi. When he was commissioned to design new churches, he decided to ignore the traditional rules and adopted methods which incorporated the revival of the Romans greatness. It has been told that Brunelleschi travelled to Rome and observed the Roman ruins and made sketches of what he saw. 

                                 The Florence cathedral, with a view of the dome



The Roman influence of the dome is even found today. This can be illustrated in the architecture of the Mosta Dome.

              

                                    
                                      The Interior of the Mosta Dome

The Mosta Dome has an influence of both Greek design, illustrated in its columns, both the exterior and interior ones, representing the Ionic style, and the building of the dome, which is a Roman influence. Its interior, similar to that of the Pantheon, is made of rounded arches, creating little niches, and its roof has a typical Roman design with the vaulted ceiling, and again a circular opening at the top; an influence of the Pantheon. 

Another type of arch was invented, this time in the Gothic style. This is known as the pointed arch. The Gothic architects made a discovery regarding the way one should vault a church through methods of crosswise arches, and this is partly why the pointed arch was needed, since the round one was not sufficient for their design. The concept behind it was to fit two segments together, and the best thing was that it could be varied, made steeper according to what the architecture needed.

In those days, people were influenced by the readings of the Bible, and much importance was given to religion and God. According to the book of Revelations, which was read during that time, heaven was made of gold buildings and colourful light. This influenced the methods architects designed their buildings which declared the glories of heaven. The cathedrals were made of gold and stained glass, each one taller than the other to bring the people closer to heaven. The Notre-Dame in Paris is perhaps the greatest of all buildings. The arrangement of the porches and windows is so flexible that one may forget the heavy weight supporting the structure.

Notre-Dame interior

Similarly, this feeling of lightness is also felt in the sculptures  neighbouring the porches looking like hosts of heaven; again an influence of the Bible. Comparing it to the sculptures of the Romanesque master of Arles, these sculptures of saints look like solid pillars and are rigidly fitted into the structure of the architecture, unlike those in front of the Gothic Cathedral of Chartres which seem like each figure came to life. Furthermore every figure is clearly marked indicating who it represents. 

                                   Northern porch of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame

                             Front porch of the church of St- Trophime, Arles


Bibliography: 

Gombrich, E.H. The Story of Art.