#architectural forum

[lisamarie-vee]

[illustratus]

A Student on a ladder measuring a Corinthian order at the Temple of Jupiter Stator in Rome

by Henry Parke (Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.)

[2seeitall]

The remains of the shrines in Butrint, Albania.

Part of the Roman Forum. To the north of the forum three shrines were built. As fragments of the marble inscriptions reveal, the central chamber was dedicated to Minerva Augustus.

[retrogeographie]

St-Gratien. Le Forum

[wandering-italy]

The Arch of Titus (81 CE)

Forum Romanum, Rome

Feb. 2024

[leroibobo]

cao'an (thatched hermitage) and its manichaean remnants in jinjiang, fujian, china. though cao'an is on its surface not too different from other buddist temples, it was also manichaean, and may still be manichaean in secret. it's also one of the last standing historical manichaean places of worship in the world. this place has quite the history, so i placed it under a read more:

manichaeism is a former world religion of babylonian origin, reaching as far west as the roman empire and as far east as han china at its greatest extent. it combines elements of several other prominent religions and philosophies - the most notable factor of this is that it reveres founder mani as the final prophet in a line consisting of zoroaster, the gautama buddha, and jesus christ. it went mostly extinct due to persecution of followers throughout its multi-continent laity. manichaean places of worship were either entirely destroyed or appropriated in other parts of the world. it lasted much longer in china (until ming dynasty times) and still exists in some parts of fujian and zhejiang. these believers prefer to remain private about their current practice. what outsiders know about the religion is solely through historical records; because of its comparative longevity in china, many of those records come from there.

manichaeans tended to draw more from the religious/philosophical influences on manichaeism that were most familiar to them. (for example, while manichaeism in jerusalem may have looked more abrahamic, manichaeism in istakhr may have looked more zoroastrian.) in china, manichaeism assimilated to both buddhism and taoism; in the former case, much of it was adapted to be stylistically buddhist, and mani received the title of "buddha of light" and a life story resembling the gautama buddha's.

cao'an was constructed during the song dynasty era (specifically in the 960s), when persecution against manichaeans had been ongoing from emperor wuzong of tang's suppression of all foreign religions. (the same policies had affected zoroastrians, eastern syriac christians, and buddhists, but continued for manichaeans after.) at this time, many manichaean temples had buddhist or taoist affiliations, or disguised themselves as buddhist or taoist only. it became officially buddhist after manichaeism was banned in 1368. since abandoned, it was revived for explicit buddhist usage for a short period in the early 20th century. it's preserved as a cultural monument today.

cao'an has managed to preserve remnants of its manichaean affiliations. one is that, instead of a nianfo phrase usually seen in chinese buddhist temples, an inscription on a nearby stone dating to the 15th century reminded worshippers of "purity, light, power, and wisdom". this mantra is an adaption of manichaean cosmology in chinese manichaeism. the original stone was destroyed during the cultural revolution but the phrase was re-inscribed on another after. another is a statue that seems to portray the buddha, but is thought to actually portray mani. unlike other portrayals of the buddha, this one has long, straight hair which is worn down, different facial features and hand/head postures, and, at one point, facial hair. (this was filed off in the early 20th century by a buddhist monk to make him look more like the buddha.) it's also consistent with other portrayals of mani in chinese manichaean art.

[midwestaesthetics]

Some of the sights in Rome, Italy...

[galleryofart]

A View of Trajan's Forum, Rome

Artist: Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (English, 1793–1865)

Date: 1821

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, United States

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Architectural relief (Fight Scene).

Date: A.D. 100-125

Place of origin: Rome (Building of Trajan's Forum? Arch of Constantine?)

Period: Imperial Period

Medium: Marble

[archaeologs]

The Oval Forum of Gerasa (Jerash). Illustration by Joseph Ramon Casals. Learn more / Daha fazlası https://www.archaeologs.com/w/gerasa/

[eopederson]

Foro romano, Roma, 2019.

[lisamarie-vee]

[illustratus]

View of the Forum Romanum by Salomon Corrodi

[cbjpeg]

Tokyo, Japan 2023 © Christian Baumgarten

[wandering-italy]

Views of the Roman Forum from the Capitoline Museums.

Feb 19, 2024

[davidnajewiczphotography]

Another from Rome, more columns against the sky - The Roman Fourm