The Temple of Romulus

[FrankMi]

This image isn't as good a composition as I would like but I was entranced by the Green Door. In doing some research I found the following:

One of the most amazing things about the Temple of Romulus is the door. This is not just a green door, or even a green bronze door. This door dates from the late Imperial Age and is therefore almost 1,700 years old. To have survived intact for so long and through so much is almost unprecedented. This is one special door.

But enough about the door, what about the rest of the building? It is situated in the Roman Forum next to the Temple of Antonius and Faustina, and dates from the early 4C. Originally it was thought that this was dedicated to Emperor Romulus who died in 307. Recently it has also been suggested that the building may have been associated with the Temple of Jupiter or the audience hall of a city prefect.

Maxentius bagan building the Temple of Romulus, and it was completed by Constantine. That is in such good condition is thanks in part to the fact that in the Middle Ages it was incorporated into the atrium of the church of St. Cosma and St. Damiano. Inside the church is a 6C mosaic showing Jesus Christ surrounded by several saints at his second coming. The rest of the church has taken over the Forum Pacis built by Emperor Nerva.



Although not a great image, I hope you can enjoy the history and siginificance of the Green Door.

[CLK]

It is an amazing building. Is the door copper or have some copper in it? Thanks for the history associated with it.

[FrankMi]

It is an amazing building. Is the door copper or have some copper in it? Thanks for the history associated with it.

Hi Connie, you are correct of course, bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal. The additional strength of bronze allowed for weapons such as swords to stand up better in battle. First was the stone age, then the bronze age, then the iron (and eventually steel) age.

[Geoff F]

The shot is sharp and well exposed, Frank.

Possibly cropping a little closer, even going square, might concentrate more on the actual door and stonework.

[Mike Buckley]

Considering that your interest and the subject are the door, I wonder if you have an image which isolates the door from the other distracting elements such as the sky and the bushes.

[FrankMi]

Thank you for viewing and taking the time to provide thoughtful feedback!

Hi Geoff, I had thought about a closer crop but was concerned that it would pull the door out of context and thereby diminish its importance as a historical part of the temple. I could crop to the columns and door frame and perhaps retain a bit more of the intricate detail?

Hi Mike, I do have another image taken to the right of this one and more of a close-up on the door and frame but it also has bushes on the right as well. Perhaps the closer crop would work better.

[Mike Buckley]

If I can make a suggestion for the future, when you see something like this that interests you, limit the elements to those that lead your eye to it or frame it. Also capture interesting close-up details of it, such as one of the images carved in the door, the door handle, maybe just a key hole, etc., etc. When you combine those images with the other images such as these compositions that provide context, you have a set that very nicely showcases the door.

[Sergio M.]

Frank, I really like this image. For me the angle of view accentuates the massiveness of the door and it also leads my eyes up the stairs to the door and surrounding architecture. Very nice.

Serge

[Bobobird]

I like it but more importantly learned a bit more from it and the comments. Thanks for putting this up.

[MrB]

I had thought about a closer crop but was concerned that it would pull the door out of context and thereby diminish its importance as a historical part of the temple. I could crop to the columns and door frame and perhaps retain a bit more of the intricate detail?

Frank, cropping is not necessary. Your composition is fine - the steps and handrail, together with the little bit of sky and the hint of the top of the temple, not only give context but also add to the sense of the scale of the door. The factor that detracts for me is the wide-angle distortion - I prefer a more natural perspective. (In my opinion, extra perspective distortion can work effectively to convey height, but usually only in those shots where the photographer is near the base of a tall building, looking directly up to the top.)

E.g. (Hope you don't mind) -


Cheers.
Philip

[ggt]

WOW! What a great opportunity for camera play. The FORUM!!!. I am so jealous. So much of Western history originates in the Forum and Vatican Hill to the North. Never been there, but took Latin and Art History --so I am well exposed. I've never heard of these doors. Considering how many fires and sackings there were it is amazing the doors survived.

THANKS FOR POSTING. I like your picture, even with the weird angle. Somehow it makes it seem as if that is exactly what I would see if I were walking up to the structure. Realism perhaps. Not what one would want for publication, but it gives great perspective of what the Forum is like now. Not picture perfect . . ..

[FrankMi]

If I can make a suggestion for the future, when you see something like this that interests you, limit the elements to those that lead your eye to it or frame it. Also capture interesting close-up details of it, such as one of the images carved in the door, the door handle, maybe just a key hole, etc., etc. When you combine those images with the other images such as these compositions that provide context, you have a set that very nicely showcases the door.

That is a good idea Mike and I often try to get as many details and shoot from several angles as I can where it makes sense.

I rarely post an entire set of images, preferring to concentrate on the best one that will tell the story. I should rethink that position and consider composing for a set of images to see how that turns out. Thanks for the tip!

[FrankMi]

I appreciate your feedback Serge, Bobo, and Philip!

I tried to compensate for the distortion but tossed the result. It didn't work out as well as your effort, Philip.

Ideally I would have backed up to take the image but that would have included fences and tourists. I had to wait almost 15 minutes to get a gap in the tourists to get this shot! Sadly, it wasn't even possible to get the entire temple in the image but what we see is about 90% of what is still available to be seen.

Ideally, one would spend days, even weeks in a place like Rome to get the conditions and lighting right for many of these shots. When you only have a few hours you have to fall back on being a thoughtful snap-shooting tourist and pray that you can capture interesting subjects in a pleasing composition.

[Mike Buckley]

When you only have a few hours you have to fall back on being a thoughtful snap-shooting tourist and pray that you can capture interesting subjects in a pleasing composition.

So true. However, your images are consistently far better than the typical snap-shooting tourist, even a thoughtful one.

[FrankMi]

WOW! What a great opportunity for camera play. The FORUM!!!. I am so jealous. So much of Western history originates in the Forum and Vatican Hill to the North. Never been there, but took Latin and Art History --so I am well exposed. I've never heard of these doors. Considering how many fires and sackings there were it is amazing the doors survived.

THANKS FOR POSTING. I like your picture, even with the weird angle. Somehow it makes it seem as if that is exactly what I would see if I were walking up to the structure. Realism perhaps. Not what one would want for publication, but it gives great perspective of what the Forum is like now. Not picture perfect . . ..

I'm glad you are enjoying the image, despite its shortcomings Gretchen. Much of the Forum is ruins rubble in the process of being dug out and pieced together as best they can so there are fences and construction scaffolding everywhere. You can pick interesting pieces out of many images but getting a complete image of something like this is very difficult.

To give a better perspective of the Forum, here are a few snapshots of the area:

Palatine Hill from the Forum.



The Temple of Romulus from the Capitoline Hill direction. The temple has the round top in the center of the image.



A closer view of the Temple of Romulus.



I hope this puts the original image in context for those that haven't had a chance to get to Rome as yet...