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Jayne Webb
Fine Artist, Sculptor

The Pantheon stands today in Rome, Italy — almost 2 millennia since the Romans built her. The building stands as one of the only intact and functional examples of ancient pagan architectural brilliance. She has a rich history, one that few historians agree on. Some write that she was originally a temple whose sole purpose was to pay homage to the seven "pagan" planetary gods and goddesses of Rome. While others say that the Pantheon was little more than the grand entrance to a bathhouse which just "happened to be dedicated" to the gods. In 609 A.D., Pope Boniface VIII received her as a gift from the Emperor of Byzantium, and subsequently his bishops "chased the demons out" to make it a Christian church dedicated to the Madonna and the Martyrs.

But no matter how you look at it, the Pantheon (which means 'all the gods') was created as a public gathering place. Famous rulers, popes, artists, musicians, writers, and philosophers all met there to discuss art, politics, literature, and ideas — many even chose to be buried within her walls.

142 feet above the floor is a 27-foot porthole — an oculus, or an eye — which carries light into the Pantheon’s great inner space. The opening exists to let the "smoke from sacrificial fires" out and the light of the sun in.

Our "Room With A Window" exists to celebrate life, passion and creativity in much the same spirit of the Pantheon.

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Giovanni Paolo Panini
c. 1750

L Kenneth Jennings
Fine Artist, Illustrator