Panthéon: Difference between revisions

The '''Panthéon''' ({{IPA-|fr|pɑ̃.te.ɔ̃|lang|LL-Q150 (fra)-Benoît Prieur-Panthéon.wav}}, from the [[Ancient Greek language|Classical Greek]] word {{lang|grc|πάνθειον}}, {{transltransliteration|grc|pántheion}}, '[temple] to all the gods')<ref>{{cite web |title=Pantheon definitions |url=https://www.definitions.net/definition/pantheon |website=definitions.net |access-date=2020-05-13 }}</ref> is a monument in the [[5th arrondissement of Paris]], France. It stands in the [[Latin Quarter, Paris|Latin Quarter]] (Quartier latin), atop the {{lang|fr|[[Montagne Sainte-Geneviève]]|italic=no}}, in the centre of the {{lang|fr|[[Place du Panthéon]]|italic=no}}, which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 and 1790, from designs by {{lang|fr|[[Jacques-Germain Soufflot]]|italic=no}}, at the behest of King [[Louis XV|Louis XV of France]]; the king intended it as a church dedicated to Saint [[Genevieve|Saint Genevieve]], Paris's patron saint, whose relics were to be housed in the church. Neither Soufflot nor Louis XV lived to see the church completed.

In 1851, [[Léon Foucault]] conducted a demonstration of [[diurnal motion]] at the Panthéon by suspending a pendulum from the ceiling, a [[Foucault pendulum|copy of which is still visible today]]. As of December 2021 the remains of 81 people (75 men and six women) had been transferred to the Panthéon.<ref name=gbaker>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/22/josephine-baker-to-become-first-black-woman-to-enter-frances-pantheon|title=Josephine Baker to become first Black woman to enter France's Pantheon|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=August 22, 2021|website=[[The Guardian]]|quote=Of the 80 figures in the Panthéon, only five are women}}</ref> More than half of all the {{lang|fr|panthéonisations}} were made under [[Napoleon]]'s rule during the [[First French Empire|First Empire]].

File:Panthéon Soufflot - élevation principale.png|Soufflot's final plan: the principal facadefaçade (1777)

[[Louis XV of France|King Louis XV]] vowed in 1744 that if he recovered from his illness he would replace the dilapidated church of the [[Abbey of St Genevieve]] with a grander building worthy of the patron saint of Paris. He did recover, but ten years passed before the reconstruction and enlargement of the church was begun. In 1755 The Director of the King's public works, [[Abel-François Poisson, marquis de Marigny]], chose [[Jacques-Germain Soufflot]] to design the church. Soufflot (1713–1780) had studied classical architecture in Rome over 1731–38. Most of his early work was done in Lyon. Saint Genevieve became his life's work; it was not finished until after his death.<ref>{{cite book|first=Moshe|last=Sluhovsky|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T71rv5GwI0QC&q=King+Louis+XV+1744+St+Genevieve&pg=PA142 |title=Patroness of Paris: Rituals of Devotion in Early Modern France |publisher=Brill|date=1998|isbn=9004108513 }}</ref>

His first design was completed in 1755, and was clearly influenced by the work of [[Bramante]] he had studied in Italy. It took form of a [[Greek cross]], with four naves of equal length, and monumental dome over the crossing in the centre, and a classical portico with [[Corinthian columns]] and a [[peristyle]] with a triangular pediment on the main facadefaçade.<ref>{{harvnb|Oudin|1994|p=479}}</ref> The design was modified five times over the following years, with the addition of a [[narthex]], a choir, and two towers. The design was not finalised until 1777.<ref>{{harvnb|Lebeurre|2000|p=9}}</ref>

The building is 110 metres long by 84 metres wide, and 83 metres high, with the crypt beneath of the same size. The ceiling was supported by isolated columns, which supported an array of [[barrel vaults]] and [[transverse archesarch]]es. The massive dome was supported by [[pendentives]] rested upon four massive pillars. Critics of the plan contended that the pillars could not support such a large dome. Soufflot strengthened the stone structure with a system of iron rods, a predecessor of modern reinforced buildings. The bars had deteriorated by the 21st century, and a major restoration project to replace them was carried out between 2010 and 2020.<ref>{{harvnb|Lebeurre|2000|pp=9–10}}</ref>

File:Panthéon 1795.jpg|The Panthéon in 1795. The facadefaçade windows were bricked up to make the interior darker and more solemn.

Soon after the church was transformed into a mausoleum, the Assembly approved architectural changes to make the interior darker and more solemn. The architect [[Quatremère de Quincy]] bricked up the lower windows and frosted the glass of the upper windows to reduce the light, and removed most of the ornament from the exterior. The architectural lanterns and bells were removed from the facadefaçade. All of the religious friezes and statues were destroyed in 1791; it was replaced by statuary and murals on patriotic themes.<ref name="Lebeurre 2000, p. 17"/>

In 1881, a decree was passed to transform the Church of Saint Genevieve into a mausoleum again. [[Victor Hugo]] was the first to be placed in the crypt afterwards. The subsequent governments approved the entry of literary figures, including the writer [[Émile Zola]] (1908), and, after [[World War I]], leaders of the French socialist movement, including [[Léon Gambetta]] (1920) and [[Jean Jaurès]] (1924). The Third Republic governments also decreed that the building should be decorated with sculpture representing "the golden ages and great men of France." The principal works remaining from this period include the sculptural group called ''The National Assembly'', commemorating the French Revolution; a statue of [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Mirabeau]], the first man interred in the Pantheon, by Jean-Antoine Ingabert; (1889–1920); and two patriotic murals in the apse ''Victory Leading the Armies of the Republic'' to ''Towards Glory'' by [[Édouard Detaille]], and ''Glory Entering the Temple, Followed by Poets, Philosophers, Scientists and Warriors'' , by Marie-Désiré-Hector d'Espouy (1906).<ref name="Lebeurre 2000, pp. 33–35"/>

Under the [[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]] of President [[Charles de Gaulle]], the first person to be buried in the Panthéon was the Resistance leader [[Jean Moulin]]. Modern figures buried in recent years include [[Nobel Peace Prize]] winner [[René Cassin]] (1987) known for drafting the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]; [[Jean Monnet]] (1988) who was a moving force in the creation of the [[European Coal and Steel Community|ECSC]], the forerunner of the [[EU]], was interred in the 100th anniversary of his birth; Nobel laureates physicists and chemists [[Marie Curie]] and [[Pierre Curie]] (1995); the writer and culture minister [[André Malraux]] (1996); and the lawyer, politician [[Simone Veil]] (2018).<ref>{{harvnb|Lebeurre|2000|pp=58–59}}</ref> In 2021, [[Josephine Baker]] was inducted into the Pantheon, becoming the first Black woman to receive that honor.<ref name=ap-baker>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/josephine-baker-pantheon-france-38c5389c6a5f555c3b7e13b9eeb41984|title=Black artist Josephine Baker honored at France's Pantheon|date=November 30, 2021|website=[[AP News]]}}</ref>

The final plan of the dome was accepted in 1777, and it was completed in 1790. It was designed to rival those of [[St. Peter's Basilica]] in Rome and [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in London. Unlike the dome of {{lang|fr|[[Les Invalides]]|italic=no}} in Paris, which has a wooden framework, the dome is constructed entirely of stone. It is actually three domes, one within the other, with the painted ceiling, visible from below, on the second dome. The dome is 83.0 metres (272&nbsp;ft) high, compared with [[List of tallest domes|the tallest dome in the world]], St. Peter's Basilica at 136.57 metres (448.1&nbsp;ft).

===FacadeFaçade, peristyle and entrance===

Paris - Panthéon (27378584206).jpg|Main facadefaçade

The facadefaçade and [[peristyle]] on the east side, modeled after a Greek temple, features [[Corinthian columns]] and [[pedimental sculpture]] by [[David d'Angers]], completed in 1837. The sculpture on this pediment, replacing an early pediment with religious themes, represents "The Nation distributing crowns handed to her by Liberty to great men, civil and military, while history inscribes their names". To the left are figures of distinguished scientists, philosophers, and statesmen, including [[Rousseau]], [[Voltaire]], [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]], and [[Bichat]]. To the right is [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], along with soldiers from each military service and students in uniform from the [[École Polytechnique]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lebeurre|2000|pp=43–45}}</ref> Below is the inscription: "To the great men, from a grateful nation" ("Aux grands hommes la patrie reconnaissante"). This was added in 1791, when the Panthéon was created. It was removed during the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Restoration]] of the monarchy, then put back in 1830.

The facadefaçade originally had large windows, but they were replaced when the church became a mausoleum, to make the interior darker and more somber.

Interment in the crypt of the Panthéon is severely restricted and is allowed only by a parliamentary act for "National Heroes". Similar high honours exist in {{lang|fr|[[Les Invalides]]|italic=no}} for historical military leaders such as [[Napoléon]], [[Turenne]] and [[Vauban]].

Among those buried in its [[necropolis]] are [[Voltaire]], [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau|Rousseau]], [[Victor Hugo]], [[Émile Zola]], [[Jean Moulin]], [[Louis Braille]], [[Jean Jaurès]] and Soufflot, its architect. In 1907 [[Marcellin Berthelot]] was buried with his wife Mme Sophie Berthelot. [[Marie Curie]] was interred in 1995, the first woman interred on merit. [[Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz]] and [[Germaine Tillion]], heroines of the [[French resistance]], were interred in 2015.<ref>{{cite news|authorfirst=Angelique |last=Chrisafis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/27/french-president-hollande-honours-female-resistance-heroes-in-pantheon |title=France president Francois Hollande adds resistance heroines to Panthéon &#124; |department=World news |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=1970-01-01 |access-date=2015-05-30}}</ref> [[Simone Veil]] was interred in 2018, and her husband [[Antoine Veil]] was interred alongside her so that they would not be separated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/30/simone-veil-funeral-paris-pantheon|title=France pays tribute to Simone Veil with hero's burial in the Panthéon|last=Willsher|first=Kim|date=2018-06-30|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-11-29}}</ref>

| align="left" |<small> Buried with his wife Sophie Berthelot as he refused to be buried apart from her.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/26/opinion/international/why-so-few-women-in-the-pantheon.html|title=Opinion &#124; Why So Few Women in the Panthéon?|first=Robert|last=Zaretsky|work=The New York Times |date=October 25, 2013|via=NYTimes.com }}</ref></small>

| align="left" |<small> Symbolic interment. The coffin of Germaine Tillion at the Panthéon does not contain her remains but soil from her gravesite, because her family did not want the body itself moved.<ref name="news.yahoo.com">{{cite web |url=https://news.yahoo.com/paris-celebrates-wwii-resistance-heroes-pantheon-ceremony-151542446.html |title=Paris celebrates WWII resistance heroes in Pantheon ceremony |via= Yahoo News |agency=Associated Press |access-date=2017-01-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305112114/http://news.yahoo.com/paris-celebrates-wwii-resistance-heroes-pantheon-ceremony-151542446.html |archive-date=2016-03-05 }}</ref></small>