From Etruscans and Romans to Modern Times - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 61

with a simple triangular pediment resting on eight soaring Corinthian columns. Behind the
pillars, under the portico, is a double doorway, forty feet high and twenty feet wide. The
doors open onto a vast circular space (the cella ) crowned by the largest dome ever built.
The dome “has a diameter of just over 142 feet and is coffered in five concentric rings
meeting in the center in a large, circular … oculus [eye] 142 feet from the floor... [and]
nearly 30 feet across.” [65]
Figure 5.6. Pantheon
The Pantheon was dedicated originally to the gods; hence, its dome represents the
firmament. It was rededicated to the Virgin and Christian martyrs in 609 CE. The acoustics
of the cella are whisper splendid , and the eye of the dome bathes the temple in soft, lovely
light. For centuries, travelers have marveled at the Pantheon's interior. Half the interior
height is wall; half is the dome. The dome is a vast circle of coffered spaces that seem to
grow smaller as they move upward. The floor is marble and is slightly convex so as to fool
the eye into seeing it as perfectly level. These harmonious proportions bring to mind tran-
scendent Roman poets:
Live among men as if God beheld you;
Speak to God as if men were listening.
— Seneca
I am a man, and nothing that concerns a man