The Pantheon in Rome is in many ways one of the most exceptional monuments of antiquity. While its famous dome has already been studied intensively, the fact that the vestibule is also an exceptional example of roman engineering, is less known: its roof truss that is made entirely made from bronze. The actual bronze truss has remained intact until the year 1625/26 although the gilded covering plates have been brought to Constantinople by Constans II. During this time, it has been removed by pope Urban VIII who used the 180 tons of bronze to cast new canons. Only two bronze rivets, on in the Collection of Antiquities in Berlin another in the Archaeological museum of Florence, remain today. Before its destruction, the truss has been documented by several architects in the Renaissance, among these Francesco Borromini, who accompanied the demolition and left detailed building recordings true to scale. A multi-disciplinary project is now concerned with the reconstruction and investigation of the original bronze roof truss. Aside from the systematic evaluation of the archived documents, documentation and investigation on the structural remains as well as several analyses on the remaining bronze rivet are conducted. The aim of the project is to understand the building and construction history as well as the material and truss properties in context to other ancient trusses more thoroughly.

Responsible: Michael Heinzelmann, Dr. Dorothee Heinzelmann, Werner Lorenz

Cooperation:

• Collection of Antiquities Berlin
• Institute of Metallurgy at the RWTH Aachen
• Institute for Casting Techniques RWTH Aachen
• Chair for History of Structural Engineering and Preservation of Support Structures at the BTU Cottbus
• Chair for Computer Graphics HTW Dresden
• Federal Institute of Material Sciences Berlin
• Surveyor's Office Buchholz Koblenz
• Soprintendenza Belle Arti e Paesaggio del Comune di Roma

Publications:

• D. Heinzelmann - M. Heinzelmann, The Bronze Truss of the Portico of the Pantheon in Rome,Anejos de Archivo Español de Arqueología, in: J. DeLaine (Hrsg.), Proceeding of the 5th International Workshop on the Archaeology of Roman Construction Oxford 2015,
  Anejos de AEspA LXXVIII, 2016, 59-73
• D. Heinzelmann - M. Heinzelmann - W. Lorenz, Das Bronzedachwerk der Vorhalle des Pantheons in Rom, Bericht über die 49. Tagung für Ausgrabungswissenschaft und Bauforschung, 2017, 148-155
• D. Heinzelmann - M. Heinzelmann - W. Lorenz, "decora inutilia". Das antike Bronzedachwerk der Vorhalle des Pantheons in Rom, Römische Mitteilungen 124, 2018, 47-83
• D. Heinzelmann - M. Heinzelmann - W. Lorenz, The metal roof truss of the Pantheon's portico in Rome - 152 tons of bronze, Construction History Journal 33, 2018, 1-22

Qualifikation papers:

• M. Gunkel, Der Bronze-Dachstuhl der Pantheon-Vorhalle in Rom - Rekonstruktion, statische Bewertung und Analyse (Master 2015)
• A. Schiffmann, Das Pantheon in Rom. Untersuchungen zur Logistik und den Bauabläufen einer römischen Großbaustelle im 2. Jh. n. Chr. (Master 2019)